iVoteCatholic
Parish leader playbook
iVoteCatholic is a digital resource to help form consciences for faithful citizenship, organized around the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching.
If you’re looking for the best and easiest ways to utilize the multiple resources from iVoteCatholic in your Family of Parishes, you’ve come to the right place. Below you will find an example of a weekly plan that can be replicated for each of the seven weeks, regardless of the order you choose is best for your Family of Parishes. You can choose to do everything suggested, or you can only use the parts that make the most sense for you. Whatever you do, we’re so thankful that you’re sharing these resources, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions or suggestions.
Here’s a sample plan to use during the 2024 election season.
The plan runs from early Sept. to late October.
Sample Week
Here’s a simple plug and play option you can use with any of the themes. The resources for all of these ideas are linked below.
- Insert the Bulletin Announcement in the Sunday bulletin.
- Include the sample intention(s) in the Universal Prayer at Mass (e.g. petitions, general intercessions)
- Get your youth leaders the Activities for Youth and your group leaders (not matter the group) the Discussion Questions.
- Urge catechists to incorporate the weekly theme into religion class.
- Share the Musical Suggestions with your worship team.
- Encourage priests and deacons to connect their homilies to the assigned theme.
- Monday – share (via social media or other means) the theme for the week. Example: Life & Dignity of the Human Person – The Church teaches that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. Because of this fact, every human life is sacred. Every life is worth living. There is nothing anyone can do to take this dignity away.
- Tuesday – share a social media post. Example: Society as a whole must respect, defend and promote the dignity of the human person, at every moment and in every condition of that person’s life. St John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, no. 81
- Wednesday – encourage people to prayerfully consider topics influenced by the Church’s teachings on the topic. Example: As we delve into the Church’s commitment to the Life & Dignity of the Human Person, consider the Church’s position on issues such as abortion, the death penalty, physician assisted suicide, racism, and war and where different political candidates stand on these issues.
- Thursday – share another social media post. Example: We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.
- Friday – offer a discussion question or two to consider as they enter the weekend. Example: What does it mean to be pro-life from conception to natural death? How have you fallen short of upholding someone else’s dignity?
iVotecatholic Resources
Here’s an introductory video from Archbishop Schnurr. It’s a great way to introduce and share about the importance of this initiative.
Liturgical Resources
- Scriptural roots of Catholic Social Teaching (the seven themes)
- Connecting the Sunday Gospels of Aug.-Oct. 2024 to the seven themes
- Intentions for the Universal Prayer
- Music suggestions
Communication Resources
- Bulletin notices
- Social media posts
Catechetical Resources
In this video, you can watch the webinar where we walked through the iVoteCatholic website, showing you how to utilize the resources in your social media, preaching, teaching, and other parish ministries.
