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Pope Benedict 's Prayer Intention
for July 2010

 

Election of Officials

 

 

At election time we as Christians have the option to vote for the common good. We are lucky to have an election system that others seek to emulate. Our election process might not be ideal, but we are lucky that we don’t live in a part of the world where elections can be rigged, or go hand in hand with corruption and death threats.

 

In 2005, when United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan addressed a gathering of international organizations at UN headquarters in New York to endorse a Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation. This was the first universal effort to outline a code of practice for safeguarding the integrity of objective and impartial election observation as a shared global activity. “The presence of international election observers, fielded always at the invitation of sovereign states, can make a big difference in ensuring that elections genuinely move the democratic process forward,” Annan said. “Their mere presence can dissuade misconduct, ensure transparency, and inspire confidence in the process.”

 

This month we are invited to join in Pope Benedict’s prayer intention “…That in every nation of the world the election of officials may be carried out with justice, transparency and honesty, respecting the free decisions of citizens.”