St. Paul’s political commands are unambiguous: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities” (Rom 13:1), and “render … to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due” (Rom 13:7). All Christians, bound by the same teaching as the Romans, must therefore obey the state and pay what is lawfully required of them.
Yet this command must be balanced by Christ’s own words: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Mt 22:21). The believer must remember that all earthly authority is derivative — granted by the Divine — and that one’s ultimate loyalty belongs to God alone.
What, then, should a Catholic Christian do when he lives under a state that propagates what Pope St. John Paul II called a “culture of death?” In Canada, every taxpayer knows that his contribution may be used to sustain two great evils justified under the banner of “healthcare”: abortion and euthanasia. Is this not the civil magistrate using his authority to destroy what God has made? Is this not rendering unto Caesar what belongs rightly to the Lord? How is one to maintain his conscience and peace when he may be complicit in such grave wrongs?
We must be clear — these are not marginal concerns. In 2023, an estimated 100,000 abortions were performed in Canada and more than 15,000 people were murdered via euthanasia. By conservative estimates — as exact figures remain undisclosed — this amounts to roughly $75 million spent on abortion and $30 million on euthanasia. These are but two of the most obvious examples of the “culture of death.” These numbers are not merely statistics; they mark a pattern of governance where life is weighed against convenience.
If we, moreover, follow Pope Benedict XVI’s reflections in “Spe Salvi” and “Caritas in Veritate,” the scope of this culture extends even further, encompassing every social arrangement that treats the human person as disposable or merely efficient. Every Catholic Canadian must therefore confront an uncomfortable truth: his taxes, his citizenship and his participation in public life all take place within this moral landscape. To what degree, then, is the believer complicit?
The Catholic Church’s teaching must, here, be treated delicately. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear: Human beings are present from the moment of conception, and all persons must be treated with dignity until their natural deaths. Nevertheless, sin also must be understood carefully. It involves “direct and voluntary” participation in evil actions, even if merely “ordering, advising, praising or approving them;” as well, Catholic Christians are guilty if they knowingly protect evil-doers or refuse to disclose or hinder them in their evil actions.
Given these parameters, the distance and diffusion of the modern bureaucratic state — which Canada exemplifies — buffers the tax-paying believer from direct culpability in the state’s sins. First, no citizen can ever be certain how his tax dollars are spent; much of it supports legitimate services. Second, a well-formed Catholic has no personal or formal intention for his money to be used sinfully, even though civil authorities may choose to pursue such ends; the believer, then, is only complicit in a distant and material sense that the Church does not condemn outright. Third, there is no guarantee that any particular taxpayer’s contribution will be used for these evils, even if current law makes it likely that some will. There is, therefore, no reason to despair for the sake of one’s soul. A faithful Catholic can be a dutiful citizen while remaining morally clear, but such faithfulness is never passive: one is called to speak the truth in love.
If a local MP — or any MP he can reasonably reach — supports the expansion of euthanasia or easier access to abortion, the believer is obliged to write in opposition. If the Senate solicits feedback on bills contrary to the culture of life, he must alert them to the grave evil such legislation permits. If he hears a neighbour treating abortion or assisted suicide as commonplace, he is obliged to explain the seriousness of these actions. Participation in a local March for Life or Life Chain demonstration, too, may help improve local awareness and sentiment toward issues of life. Such activities are the correlative duty given to the Catholic Canadian in exchange for exonerating him from the guilt of his government.
In all this, however, charity must never be forgotten. Catholic citizens must not adopt a high and mighty posture. To defend the weak and vulnerable is to put on the meekness of Christ and to suffer alongside them; it must not be to don the old man’s dark robes of vainglory and pride. To do so would be no better than Pontius Pilate, who pretended that merely washing his hands could absolve him of guilt. Let us pray for earnestness in navigating these gray waters with both clarity and love.
