The 2016 United States elections are a time of tension and reflection for many Americans. For Catholic bishops, it's not so different. “It's always a joy to be a bishop, it’s always a challenge to be a bishop,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York told CNA. “I think in an election year, the challenges might outweigh the joys.” He said bishops have the same duties and concerns as other Americans. “We're American citizens, we’re responsible, we’re loyal, we’re thoughtful. We study the issues, we try our best to be engaged in the process,” he said. “We're also pastors, so we try to remind our people of those basic biblical values, those classical Catholic values that have guided us through the ages, particularly as articulated by John Paul II: the dignity of the human person, the sacredness of human life, solidarity. “Those are three things that we keep hammering away on. And we trust that our people under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit will make the right decision.” Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore also reflected on the state of the country. “It’s always a grace and a challenge to be a bishop, and it’s an especially bracing challenge during an election year,” he told CNA. In such a time, he said, bishops need “to teach, and teach clearly … that which is most important.” All the moral issues that face the U.S. are important and deserving of respect, he maintained. “There are some that are truly life or death,” he said, referring to issues of human dignity and its “obliteration.” For Archbishop Lori, bishops must provide guidance: “We certainly have to lay out the issues clearly and in their proper order.”

Pope Francis has lamented that children are being taught at school that gender can be a choice, adding that his predecessor, Benedict XVI has labeled current times "the epoch of sin against God the Creator." Francis weighed in with his view on gender and what he said was that of the emeritus pontiff while meeting privately last week with bishops from Poland during his pilgrimage there. The Vatican released a transcript Tuesday of those closed-door remarks. The pope said he wanted to conclude his remarks by reflecting on this: "We are living a moment of annihilation of man as image of God." Francis said: "Today, in schools they are teaching this to children -- to children! -- that everyone can choose their gender." Without specifying, he blamed this on textbooks supplied by "persons and institutions who donate money." The pope blamed what he called "ideological colonizing" backed by "very influential countries" which he didn't identify, adding "this is terrible." One such "colonization" he said -- "I'll say it clearly with its first and last name -- is gender." The "colonization" theme is one he has railed against before, including during an Asian pilgrimage in 2015. This time, though, he volunteered that he has discussed the gender issue with Benedict, who has lived at the Vatican since retiring in 2013. "Speaking with Pope Benedict, who is well, and has a clear mind, he was telling me: 'Holiness, this is the epoch of sin against God the Creator.' He's intelligent! God created man and woman, God created the world this way, this way, this way, and we are doing the opposite," Francis told the Polish bishops Wednesday shortly after his arrival in Krakow at the start of a five-day pilgrimage. Francis' ended by telling the Polish bishops he wanted them to reflect on this: "We must think about what Pope Benedict said -- 'It's the epoch of sin against God the Creator.'"

Although both major 2016 vice presidential nominees were raised Catholic and still profess to be Christians, their public policy records have drawn concern from some members of the faithful. The “free exercise” of religion “is not simply about what you do in Church on Sunday morning,” Deacon Keith Fournier of the Common Good Foundation told CNA. “It’s how you exercise that faith in every sector, whether it’s commerce, politics, participation – all of it.” Both major nominees for vice president are baptized Catholics. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine still identifies as a Catholic and was seen at Sunday Mass on July 24 after he was picked by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to be her running mate. Indiana Governor Mike Pence, meanwhile, was raised Catholic but identified in 1994 as a “born-again, evangelical Catholic.” He started attending an evangelical megachurch with his family in the 1990s. It is unclear which church Pence attends now. “I’m a pretty ordinary Christian,” freelance journalist Craig Fehrman reported him saying. Pence told the audience at the Republican National Convention that he was a “Christian, conservative, and a Republican, in that order.” Both Pence and Kaine have drawn controversy for their public policy positions. While Sen. Kaine has said he’s “personally opposed” to abortion, he has received a 100 percent rating in 2016 from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political arm of the nation’s largest abortion provider, and a perfect rating in 2015 from NARAL Pro-Choice America. More recently, it was reported that he privately told Hillary Clinton that he would support overturning the Hyde Amendment, a 40 year-old policy that prevents federal dollars from directly funding most abortions.

Mercy is not an abstract concept but a lifestyle that invites Christians to make an examination of conscience and ask themselves if they place the spiritual and material needs of others before their own, Pope Francis said. A Christian who chooses to be merciful experiences true life and has "eyes to see, ears to listen, and hands to comfort," the pope said June 30 during a Year of Mercy audience in St. Peter's Square. "That which makes mercy alive is its constant dynamism to go out searching for the needy and the needs of those who are in spiritual or material hardship," he said. By being indifferent to the plight of the poor and suffering, the pope said, Christians turn into "hypocrites" and move toward a "spiritual lethargy that numbs the mind and makes life barren." "People who go through life, who walk in life without being aware of the needs of others, without seeing the many spiritual and material needs are people who do not live," he said. "They are people who do not serve others. And remember this well: One who does not live to serve, serves nothing in life." Instead, he continued, those who have experienced the mercy of God in their own lives do not remain insensitive to the needs of others. Far from theoretical issues, the works of mercy are a "concrete witness" that compel Christians to "roll up their sleeves in order to ease suffering." Pope Francis also called on the faithful to remain vigilant and to focus on Christ present, especially in those suffering due to a globalized "culture of well-being." "Look at Jesus; look at Jesus in the hungry, in the prisoner, in the sick, in the naked, in the person who does not have a job to support his family. Look at Jesus in these brothers and sisters of ours. Look at Jesus in those who are alone, sad, in those who make a mistake and need advice, in those who need to embark on the path with him in silence so they may feel accompanied," he said. "These are the works that Jesus asks of us. To look at Jesus in them, in these people. Why? Because Jesus also looks at me, looks at you, in that way." Concluding his catechesis, Pope Francis recalled his visit to Armenia June 24-26, thanking the people of Armenia who, throughout their history, "have given witness to the Christian faith through martyrdom." While thanking Armenian Apostolic Catholics Karekin II for his hospitality, the pope stressed that in making the visit alongside the patriarch, he was reminding Catholics of the importance of strengthening bonds with other Christians as another way "of giving witness to the Gospel and being leaven for a more just and united society."