Catholic voters urged to gauge teachings on issues of morality

The document by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops gives nuanced instructions.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

BALTIMORE, Md. — With a sense of new energy and empowerment, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops issued instructions to Catholic voters that their eternal salvation could be at stake when they cast ballots. The bishops revealed the guidelines when the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops met late last year.

Bishops emphasized that voters must consider the church's teachings on abortion and other moral issues when they select a candidate for the White House or any other office. If they don't, bishops said, it's not clergy who will judge them but God.

"It is important to be clear that the political choices faced by citizens have an impact on general peace and prosperity and also the individual's salvation," the bishops said in the document, titled "Faithful Citizenship." "Similarly, the kinds of laws and policies supported by public officials affect their spiritual well-being."

Bishops have drafted a similar document every four years since the 1976 presidential election, when concerns centered on Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe and recovery from the Watergate scandal. But these guidelines for the first time spelled out possible consequences as well as giving much more nuanced instruction to the Catholic electorate than in years past.

Voters are implored not to seek abortion-rights political candidates but also advised that views on abortion should not be the sole factor. Catholics should also weigh church teaching on such moral issues as immigration, just war and poverty, bishops said.

The bishops hailed the document as fulfilling their imperative to enforce church teaching and integrate it into daily life. It also embodies the Catholic mandate to serve as a public witness for the common good.

The document does not tell voters which candidates or party to favor. It also does not address whether priests should deny communion to Catholic politicians who stray from church teaching. Cardinal Francis George, the newly elected president of the conference, said bishops probably would discuss the issue behind closed doors.

George has not threatened to deny the sacrament. He said he's "primarily concerned that worship remains worship and isn't manipulated."

The Catholic electorate tends to be diverse ethnically, politically and even religiously, noted Gregory Smith, a research fellow at the Pew Institute on Religion and Public Life. Adherence to Catholic social teachings often corresponds with church attendance, which varies, and just as many Catholics voted for President Bush in 2004 as for John Kerry.

Karl Maurer, a director of the conservative Catholic Citizens of Illinois, said the document would matter more if it included a stern warning to Catholic politicians to follow church teachings.

Bishops said they believe Catholic voters do listen and that the new statement gives them clear direction in how to make sound decisions grounded in church teaching.

"What we did provide for the first time in this document is some concrete guidance in how a voter goes about making prudential judgments," said Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn.