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Pastoral letter urges Catholic voters to review each candidate's positions
By Colette M. Jenkins
Beacon Journal religion writer
Published on Saturday, Nov 01, 2008
Catholic voters are not single-issue voters.
That is the message that Bishop George V. Murry of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown and Bishop Richard G. Lennon of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland are sending to nearly 1 million parishioners in 13 Northeast Ohio counties this weekend.
Pastoral letters from both bishops were published Friday in their respective diocesan newspapers — the Catholic Exponent of Youngstown and the Catholic Universe Bulletin of Cleveland. Their letters were also sent to diocesan priests to share with parishioners during Mass today and Sunday.
Both bishops support Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States and encouraged people in the pews to review and study the document, which was first printed in November 2007 and went through its fifth printing in September.
''While all the issues presented in the teaching of Faithful Citizenship are significant, they are not all equally significant,'' Lennon wrote. ''The Church teaches that there are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with the love of God and neighbor.''
The things that must always be rejected or opposed, as cited by Lennon and Murry, are called intrinsic evils. Those include abortion; euthanasia; human cloning; embryonic stem cell research; genocide; torture; racism; and targeting noncombatants in acts of terror or war.
While the intrinsic evils should carry more weight in helping Catholics ''form their consciences in accordance with God's truth,'' as Lennon states, Catholic voters' decisions ''must be consistent and advance human life in all of its dimensions, since we have a positive obligation to respond to the needs of others,'' Murry wrote.
Both bishops agree that the latter is done by considering issues that are included in the Church's social doctrine. They echo the Faithful Citizenship document, which says ''the right to life implies and is linked to other human rights . . . All the life issues are connected, for erosion of respect for the life of any individual or group in society necessarily diminishes respect for all life.'' (paragraph 25)
The human rights issues include poverty; hunger; marriage; immigration; education; employment; housing; and health care. Lennon states that these issues rely on ''the acceptance of 'God's Truth' on human life.''
In their letters, Murry and Lennon tell priests and parishioners that in addition to forming their consciences based on the Ten Commandments, the gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Church, they must use prudence. Murry also encourages Catholic voters to study the position papers and campaign materials of each candidate.
''To be faithful citizens, all of us must critically review each candidate's positions,'' Murry wrote. ''We must ask ourselves if the candidate, or the party the candidate represents, promotes threats to the sanctity of human life.''
Murry's letter can be found at http://www.doy.org. Lennon's letter is posted at http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org.
The ''Faithful Citizenship'' document can be found at http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org.
The local bishops also support the Catholic Bishops of Ohio Ballot Issue Reflection Guide, which summarizes the five pending state ballot issues. The Ohio bishops are neutral on Issues 1 (ballot deadlines), 2 (clean Ohio bonds) and 3 (water rights).
They recommend a ''yes'' vote on Issue 5 (payday lending reform) and a ''no'' vote on Issue 6 (private casinos). The guide can be found at http://www.ohiocathconf.org.
The Cleveland diocese includes Cuyahoga, Summit, Lorain, Lake, Geauga, Medina, Wayne and Ashland counties.
The five counties in the Youngstown diocese are Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning, Portage, Stark and Trumbull.
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com.
Catholic voters are not single-issue voters.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Akron, OH
Posted 02:54 PM, 11/01/2008
Thank you, Colette Jenkins.
Robert M Kraus
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 11:07 AM, 11/02/2008
I think the bishops need to mind their own business. Politics and Religion don't mix in this country. Maybe the Catholic Church needs to lose it's tax free status now that it has entereed into politics where it doesn't belong? Almost all US Catholics approve of birth control and a majority support abortion on demand anyway according to the polls.
Posted 02:06 PM, 11/04/2008
The Bishops are NOT telling people who to vote for. They detailed the intrinsic evils that needed to be considered before voting. They are doing their job as leaders of the Catholic Faith to help form the consciences of the faithful. If a Catholic thinks that the Bishops are telling them who to vote for, then they haven't read the document or read it to fit their own views.
As for the polls -- to paraphrase Mark Twain -- there lies, damn lies, and polls.
