Archbishop Chaput, in talking about the desire of secularists to push religious faith out of the public sphere makes the point that we are either Catholic all of the time with our faith guiding how we live and make decisions, or we are phonies.
Related link: Abp. Chaput urges Catholics to fight "for their ideas in the public square"
We can't claim to be a faithful husband or wife and then cheat on our spouse. And we can't claim to love God and be a "good Catholic," but then ignore what it means to be Catholic in our business dealings, our social policies and in our political choices. Christian faith is always personal but never private. It either guides our behavior all the time, both in public and in private, or it's phony. And if it's phony, we should stop trying to fool ourselves. We need to be faithful Catholics first. If we're good at that, then every other quality of fruitful citizenship will follow.
Related link: Abp. Chaput urges Catholics to fight "for their ideas in the public square"