Florida Catholic | Bishops Urger Voters To Decide

Bishops urge voters to make up own minds

DENISE O’TOOLE KELLY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC MANAGING EDITOR

Published: 01.18.08

Updated: 01.23.08

It is really the role of the laity to evaluate and decide on candidates, as well as to communicate to them on issues affecting human life and dignity”
– D. Michael McCarron
Florida Catholic Conference

In the weeks before big elections — such as the Jan. 29 Florida presidential primary — Catholic newspapers typically receive calls from readers asking for whom the church wants them to vote.

The answer lies in a document that’s updated and reissued every four years by the U.S. bishops: They want you to form your conscience, based on Catholic social teaching, and prudently make up your own mind. “We bishops do not intend to tell Catholics for whom or against whom to vote,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops writes in the introduction to the latest version of “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: a Call to Political Responsibility From the Catholic Bishops of the United States,” approved by the bishops’ group in November 2007.

The document makes clear that the faithful have not only a right, but also a moral obligation to participate in the political process — whether or not they are eligible to vote — in support of the common good and the dignity of the human person. But the church would step into problematic territory, both in terms of its own traditions and U.S. tax laws, if it endorsed or opposed particular candidates.

“Churches and other 501(c)(3) institutions that qualify for tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code are not allowed to express preference for a political party or to endorse or oppose specific candidates,” said D. Michael McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s bishops. “The primary role and responsibility of the church in this area is to lift up the moral dimensions of public-policy issues and by doing so assist lawmakers in arriving at just solutions.”

That’s not to say the bishops leave the flock without guidance. They say Catholics should cast their votes with the same moral conviction they live their lives: “Both opposing evil and doing good are essential obligations.”

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Did You Know?

The moral imperative to do good includes responding to the needs of one’s neighbors for food, shelter, health care, education and meaningful work. At the top of the list of the bishops’ “intrinsically evil” actions that “must always be rejected and opposed and never be supported or condoned” are abortion, euthanasia, human cloning and destructive research on human embryos.

“The direct and intentional destruction of human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many,” the document states.

However, the document also states that “as Catholics we are not single-issue voters” and that opposing the intrinsic evils does not excuse the faithful from addressing other serious threats to human life and dignity.

“Racism and other unjust discrimination, the use of the death penalty, resorting to unjust war, the use of torture, war crimes, the failure to respond to those who are suffering from hunger or a lack of health care, or an unjust immigration policy are all serious moral issues that challenge our consciences and require us to act,” the document states.

The challenge for Catholics is that no party’s and virtually no candidates’ platforms include all of the above. That’s where the “prudential judgment” comes in.

“It is really the role of the laity to evaluate and decide on candidates, as well as to communicate to them on issues affecting human life and dignity,” McCarron said.

Did You Know?

• The U.S. bishops’ document encourages Catholics to seek election-related resources that are authorized by their own local bishops and their state Catholic conferences. The Florida Catholic Conference, in partnership with the Florida State Council of Knights of Columbus, the Florida Council of Catholic Women and this newspaper, is conducting its annual Candidate Questionnaire Project, gathering and distributing information about how candidates for state and congressional office in the November general election stand on issues of interest to Catholics. Details will appear in future issues of the Florida Catholic.

• The Florida Catholic Conference has compiled an “Election and Political Activities Guide” to help parishes and other Catholic entities participate in the 2008 political process without running afoul of church guidelines or U.S. tax laws. It can be downloaded for free, photocopied and distributed: http://www.flacathconf.org/FaithPolitics/EPAG2008Print.pdf

• Florida’s Presidential Preference Primary, in which Republicans and Democrats will express their wishes for their respective party’s nominee — to be officially chosen by delegates at the party convention — is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 29. In a dispute over the state Legislature’s decision to hold the primary so early, the national parties have penalized the state parties. Half of the state’s Republican delegates will be seated and allowed to vote at the GOP convention. As of now, none of the state’s Democratic delegates will be allowed to go to the party convention. However, state leaders from both parties encourage voting in the primary. Even at half strength, Florida’s delegation would be one of the strongest voting blocks at the GOP convention. And state Democrats hope the party’s presumed nominee will grant a last-minute reprieve and allow Floridians to be heard at the convention.

• A property tax reform amendment to the Florida Constitution also will be on the Jan. 29 ballot for all voters, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof.

Bishops urge voters to make up own minds

Did You Know?

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