Pray the Vote: A Life Night on Faithful Citizenship

Goal for the Life Night:



The goal for this night is to inform teens on the need for involvement in public life. This night will give teens practical ways to integrate their faith into public life and making decisions on important issues.

Life Night at a Glance:

As the elections get closer, it is important that teens know they have a role in public life starting now, not just when they reach voting age. This night begins with a mock debate and election of a teen representative to the Core. Two teens will debate why they would make the best representative. The rest of the group will have an opportunity to cast their votes and decide. The teaching focuses on the need to be involved in public life as well as looks at four central issues that faithful Catholic citizens should be especially involved with: dignity of the human person, dignity of family life, social justice, and solidarity. After the teaching, the teens will break up into small groups to discuss faith and its involvement in public life. The night will close with a time or prayer for those involved in public life and central issues our world is facing today.

In a document called Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have called all the faithful to participation in public life. The bishops have also created a useful website to help planning and teaching this specific issue—www.faithfulcitizenship.org. Be sure to utilize these two great tools when planning for this night. A copy of the bishop’s document can be downloaded from www.usccb.org.

While this night is geared towards parishes in the United States and the election process there, it can be adapted to address faithful citizenship in other countries as well.