By Fr.

Adrian Yeo
 Gives the government the power to restrain
any priest, monk, pastor, imam, elder, office-
bearer or any other person who is in a
position of authority in any religious group
or institution or any member thereof for the
purposes specified from carrying out
political activities, exciting disaffection
against the government, creating ill will
between religious groups, or carrying out
subversive activities under the guise of
propagating or practicing any religious
belief.
 Article 14 (1)

• (a) every citizen of Singapore has the right to

freedom of speech and expression;
 
• (b) all citizens of Singapore have the right to
assemble peaceably and without arms; and

• (c) all citizens of Singapore have the right to

form associations.
 43. Laymen should also know that it is generally
the function of their well-formed Christian
conscience to see that the divine law is inscribed
in the life of the earthly city; from priests they
may look for spiritual light and nourishment. Let
the layman not imagine that his pastors are
always such experts, that to every problem which
arises, however complicated, they can readily
give him a concrete solution, or even that such is
their mission. Rather, enlightened by Christian
wisdom and giving close attention to the
teaching authority of the Church, let the layman
take on his own distinctive role.
 Citizens have the right, by virtue of their
dignity as persons, to take an active part in
government, although the manner in which
they share in it will depend on the level of
development of the political community…
 …we deem it opportune to remind our
children of their duty to take an active part
in public life and to contribute towards the
attainment of the common good of the entire
human family and of their own country…
 The common good does not consist in the simple
sum of the particular goods of each subject of a
social entity. Belonging to everyone and to each
person, it is and remains “common”, because it is
indivisible and because only together is it
possible to attain it, increase it and safeguard its
effectiveness, with regard also to the future. Just
as the moral actions of an individual are
accomplished in doing what is good, so too the
actions of a society attain their full stature when
they bring about the common good. The common
good, in fact, can be understood as the social and
community dimension of the moral good.
 There are 3 essential elements in
Common Good.

• A respect for the person as such.

 
• The development of the spiritual and temporal
goods of society.

• The peace and security of the group and of it

members.
 Rights flowing from being creatures.
• Everyone should look upon his neighbor, without
exception, as another self.

 Equality

 Differences among men

 Solidarity.
 The Church sees in men and women, in every person, the living
image of God himself. This image finds, and must always find anew,
an ever deeper and fuller unfolding of itself in the mystery of Christ,
the Perfect Image of God, the One who reveals God to man and man
to himself. It is to these men and women, who have received an
incomparable and inalienable dignity from God himself, that the
Church speaks, rendering to them the highest and most singular
service, constantly reminding them of their lofty vocation so that
they may always be mindful of it and worthy of it. Christ, the Son of
God, “by his incarnation has united himself in some fashion with
every person”; for this reason the Church recognizes as her
fundamental duty the task of seeing that this union is continuously
brought about and renewed. In Christ the Lord, the Church
indicates and strives to be the first to embark upon the path of the
human person, and she invites all people to recognize in everyone
— near and far, known and unknown, and above all in the poor
and the suffering — a brother or sister “for whom Christ died” (1
Cor 8:11; Rom 14:15).
 “God created man in his own image, in
the image of God he created him; male
and female he created them” (Gen 1:27).
 83. It is important to consider what the Synod Fathers
described as Eucharistic consistency, a quality which our
lives are objectively called to embody. Worship pleasing to
God can never be a purely private matter, without
consequences for our relationships with others: it demands a
public witness to our faith. Evidently, this is true for all the
baptized, yet it is especially incumbent upon those who, by
virtue of their social or political position, must make
decisions regarding fundamental values, such as respect for
human life, its defense from conception to natural death, the
family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the
freedom to educate one’s children and the promotion of the
common good in all its forms. . . .
 28. The Church wishes to help form consciences
in political life and to stimulate greater insight
into the authentic requirements of justice as well
as greater readiness to act accordingly, even
when this might involve conflict with situations of
personal interest. . . .
 The Church cannot and must not take upon
herself the political battle to bring about the
most just society possible. She cannot and must
not replace the State. Yet at the same time she
cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in
the fight for justice
 The Church is principled but not
ideological. We cannot compromise basic
principles or moral teaching. We are
committed to clarity about our moral
teaching and to civility. In public life, it is
important to practice the virtues of
justice and charity that are at the core of
our Tradition. We should work with others
in a variety of ways to advance our moral
principles.
 Focused more on moral principles than
on the latest polls
 Focused more on the needs of the weak
than on benefits for the strong
 Focused more on the pursuit of the
common good than on the demands of
narrow interests