Luminous
A Catholic Woman and Her Thoughts on Life, the Universe, and Everything
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Moral Obligation to an Informed Vote
Catholics Have Moral Obligation to an Informed Vote
By Margaret M. Russell
The Catholic Free Press
 
Catholics have a moral obligation to take part in the political process in order to contribute to the common good and to build up the moral fabric of society, Bishop McManus [of the diocese of Worcester, MA] said.
 
But blindly pulling the Democratic or Republican lever is not the way to vote in these times.
 
"The best way for Catholics to participate in the political process is primarily through exercising our right to vote. But, we are obliged to vote according to a well-formed conscience," he said.
 
What does it mean for a Catholic to have a well-formed conscience?
 
The third section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about the elements that go into the formation of conscience - which is a lifelong task. A very important part, the bishop explained, is to listen to the moral and social teachings of the Church.
 
If all Catholics hear the same teachings on those moral and social issues, why then doesn't there appear to be a Catholic voting bloc?
 
"Maybe it's because in our history as American Catholics we who are teachers in the Church may have not emphasized enough to people that they should not vote according to party lines," Bishop McManus said in an interview two weeks before the Nov. 4 national election.
 
"The Church is saying that's not the way to approach political issues in our contemporary context - issues that are full of moral and social implications," he said.
 
People are quick to say that the Church tells them to "follow their conscience," but that is only half true, Bishop McManus said. "We must follow a well-formed conscience."
 
The latest document regarding a Catholic's political responsibility recognizes that. "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" was approved by the U.S. bishops in November 2007. It is the latest in a series of statements the bishops have made every four years to share Catholic teaching on political issues.
 
The introduction to the document states that every Catholic has a moral responsibility "to hear, receive and act upon the Church's teaching. .... With this foundation, Catholics are better able to evaluate policy positions, party platforms and candidates' promises and actions in the light of the Gospel and the moral and social teaching of the Church."
 
"Neither of the major political parties is a Catholic party, so to speak," Bishop McManus said. "Both parties, in some measure, support public policy or legislation which is in contradistinction to the moral teaching of the Church."
 
"The document is also very clear that although there are many public policy issues that involve moral and social issues, that the moral issue that takes precedence over all the other moral issues ... is the right to life and the dignity of the human person," Bishop McManus said.
 
Catholics who follow that teaching and vote for pro-life candidates are often accused of being one-issue voters. But Bishop McManus said that accusation is faulty because the Church says there are many public policy issues that demand our attention. The Church does not only comment on the right to life, but also comments on the economy, poverty, immigration, war, health care, education and a host of other issues.
 
The bishop said we have an obligation to support those issues that are morally sound and promote the common good. "But the first issue is attending to forming our conscience according to the very fair teaching of the Church that the right to life is a right that must be respected in its most vulnerable stages - at its beginning and at its end," he said.
 
Many will ask the question: May a Catholic then vote for a candidate who supports abortion?
 
Bishop McManus said, "A person can vote for someone who does not support public policy that protects the right to life, if that person has a proportionate reason for doing so, and the vote of that person will not cause scandal to others.
 
"My question then becomes: What is the proportionate reason for justifying electing politicians who vigorously support legislation that allows abortions to happen?
 
"The act of abortion in our country has claimed over 40 million lives of unborn babies. Will someone please tell me what that proportionate reason is?" Bishop McManus asked.
 
"Voting is a great right we have as Americans", the bishop said, and we should vote "in a way that is morally sound."
 
Other aids for the electorate are voter guides prepared by Catholic Citizenship. Those guides report on state candidates' answers to questions regarding their positions on various public policy issues.
 
Victor Pap, executive director of Catholic Citizenship, said that even though some candidates did not respond to the organization's questions, those who did are noted in the voter guides. Only seven of the 18 House districts have contested races, he noted.
 
Voter guides for particular races and districts can be accessed online at: www.catholic-citizenship.org
Written at 12:06 PM by Luminaria2112.
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Over 110 Bishops Say Abortion/Life Issues Defining Issues of Election
Over 110 Bishops Say Abortion/Life Issues are the Defining Issues of the Election
By Tim Waggoner
 
WASHINGTON, October 27, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A comprehensive list compiled by InsideCatholic.com reveals that more than 110 U.S. bishops have proclaimed abortion and the life issues to be the defining issues in the upcoming election, including 22 bishops who signed on to a joint statement by the New York bishops, and another 16 bishops who signed on to a Pennsylvania joint statement.
 
Just three days ago, LifeSiteNews.com reported that popular Catholic writer and blogger Rocco Palmo had calculated that approximately 50 bishops have proclaimed abortion and the life issues to be the defining issues in the election; but according to InsideCatholic.com the number is significantly greater than that.
 
Increasingly, and with increasing urgency, the shepherds of the U.S. Church are encouraging their flock to see the gift of life as the most important election issue - even in the midst of a war and a struggling economy. As the New York bishops write, "The inalienable right to life of every innocent human person outweighs other concerns where Catholics may use prudential judgment, such as how best to meet the needs of the poor or to increase access to health care for all."
 
Many of the bishops have also observed that abortion is not the only violation against the right to life that voters must consider, but have urged Catholics to consider the candidate's positions on euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and other violations against the human embryo.
 
With one presidential candidate promising to promote a culture of life and the other vowing to put as one of his highest priorities the extreme pro-abortion Freedom of Choice Act, this election has seen an increasing number of bishops courageously defending life.
 
After listing several offenses against life, the Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann and the Most Reverend Robert W. Finn, only two of the 80 plus bishops to highlight the life issues as the most urgent issues currently facing America, said in a joint statement, "A properly formed conscience must give such issues priority even over other matters with important moral dimensions."
 
U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Vatican's highest court, said the Democratic Party "risks transforming itself definitively into a 'party of death."
 
The determination of these bishops to reach Catholic voters appears to be paying off.
 
Investor's Business Daily and the TechnoMetrica Institute of Policy and Politics (IBD/TIPP) has released a tracking poll that shows a dramatic shift in opinion that may be a result of the bishops' guidance to their flocks.
 
IBD/TIPP reported on Thursday that John McCain has gone from an 11-point deficit to a 9-point lead over Barack Obama among Catholic voters. According to the Drudge Report, IBD/TIPP was the most accurate pollster for the 2004 election.
 
 
InsideCatholic.com's list of bishops proclaiming abortion as the main election issue:
 
 
Among the over 110 bishops who have spoken out in this election in defense of Church teaching are 63 ordinaries (bishops who head dioceses). That's nearly a third of the 197 dioceses and archdioceses in the United States. There are also 5 cardinals and 9 archbishops on the list.
 
The regional dispersion is rather even: South 7, Southeast 7, Southwest 10, West 5, Northeast 19, MidWest 27, and Northwest 3. The "red state, blue state" representation is close to even as well: Red 37, Blue 36.
 
(Note that numbers 69, 70, and 71 encompass 22, 16, 4, and 9 bishops respectively, who are included in joint statements issued by the bishops of New York, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Florida.)
 
1. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver
2. Bishop James Conley, auxiliary of Denver
3. Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C.
4. Justin Cardinal Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities
5. Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine
6. Edward Cardinal Egan of New York
7. Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo
8. Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh
9. Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs
10. Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio
11. Bishop Oscar Cantu, auxiliary of San Antonio
12. Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre
13. Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa
14. Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas
15. Bishop Gregory Aymond of Austin
16. Sean Cardinal O'Malley of Boston, MA
17. Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando
18. Archbishop John Nienstedt of Saint Paul/Minneapolis
19. Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, President of the USCCB
20. Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker
21. Bishop Jerome Listecki of La Crosse
22. Bishop Richard Lennon of Cleveland
23. Bishop Ralph Nickless of Sioux City
24. Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco
25. Bishop Glen Provost of Lake Charles, LA
26. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn
27. Bishop Joseph F. Martino of Scranton
28. Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura
30. Bishop Peter J. Jugis of Charlotte
31. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Raleigh
32. Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, KS
33. Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, MO
34. Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, WS
35. Bishop Ronald Gilmore of Dodge City, KS
36. Bishop Paul Coakley of Salina, KS
37. Bishop Michael Jackels of Wichita
38. Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito of Palm Beach
39. Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth
40. Bishop Rene H. Gracida, retired, of Corpus Christi
41. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo of Houston
42. Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington
43. Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond
44. Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Center
45. Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, MA 
46. Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Patterson
47. Bishop Robert Herrmann of St. Louis
48. Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of Baltimore
49. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix
50. Bishop Thomas D. Doran of Rockford
51. Bishop Joseph A. Galante of Camden
52. Bishop Robert J. Baker of Birmingham
53. Archbishop Alexander J. Brunett of Seattle
54. Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Joliet
55. Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton
56. Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing
57. Bishop Leonard R. Blair of Toledo
58. Bishop Francis J. Dewane of Venice
59. Bishop W. Frances Malooly of Wilmington
60. Bishop John Yanta, retired, of Amarillo
61. Bishop James V. Johnston of Springfield-Cape Girardeau
62. Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland
63. Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City
64. Bishop Lawrence Brandt of Greensburg
65. Bishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinatti
66. Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu
67. Bishop Paul Swain of Sioux Falls
68. Bishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe
69. Bishop Eusebius Beltran of Oklahoma City
70. Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Harrisburg
71. Archbishop Daniel Buechlein of Indianapolis
72. Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette
73. Bishop Timothy McDonnell of Springfield, MA
74. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee
75. Joint Statement by the bishops of New York State (22 bishops)
76. Joint Statement by the bishops of Pennsylvania (16 bishops)
77. Joint Statement by the bishops of Kansas (4 bishops)
78. Joint Statement by the bishops of Florida (9 bishops)
 
 
Written at 10:59 AM by Luminaria2112.
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