Sunday, October 19, 2008

Catholic Voter's Guide

After Mass today we received a small 16-page booklet entitled "Voter's Guide For Serious Catholics."
The booklet is produced by Catholic Answers Action and receives wide distribution both in print form and via the Catholic Answers Action website.
The Voter's Guide identifies non-negotiable moral issues in current politics and helps the voter narrow down the list of acceptable candidates, whether they are running for national, state or local office.
Non-negotiable moral principles do not admit of exception or compromise. One's position either accords with these principles or does not. No one endorsing the wrong side of these issues can be said to act in accordance with the Church's moral norms.
Of course, abortion is the paramount non-negotiable and the first listed. Others include human cloning and euthanasia.
The Guide says: It is a serious sin to deliberately endorse or promote any of these [non-negotiable] actions, and no candidate who really wants to advance the common good will support any action contrary to the non-negotiable principles involved in these issues.
On abortion, the Guide clearly states: The Church teaches that regarding a law permitting abortions, it is 'never licit to obey it or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it.' . . . The unborn child is always an innocent party and no law may permit the taking of his life.
We stress that the Guide enunciates the official teachings of the Catholic Church as proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II, The Pontifical Council for the Family, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

1 comment:

Ryan said...

"Acceptable candidates"? If I ever received something from the Catholic Church which told me the "acceptable candidates" to vote for, I would walk out of the church. What happened to separation of church and state? And as far as euthanasia goes: Why don't you go tell Terry Schiavo how righteous it was for religious zealots to make a mockery of her life as she spent her final days blind and unable to feed herself. Keep up the good work Dan!