Recently Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger reminded us of the traditional Catholic teaching on the role of conscience when voting. While we may not as Catholics endorse abortion, we may in good conscience vote for a candidate who does not share our position on that issue when there is proportionate reason to vote for him or her based on the full range of issues that we should consider.

There are many valuable resources on the electionsfor Catholics on the Internet. To make them easier to find, this single website has been created with links to all of the following sites (and more):

On this website, "Your Conscience and Your Vote" provides a short explanation of the role of conscience rooted in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. It also provides the foundation for how to use the remaining resources.

• "Faithful Citizenship" is the statement issued by the National Council of Catholic Bishops in every presidential election year to summarize for Catholics the principles of faith that they should consider. (2-page brochure/summary or Full Statement)



• VotingCatholic.org is an easy-to-use website with information on wide range of issues as well as a self-quiz.

To help you examine voting records and positions of Bush and Kerry from the perspective of Catholic social doctrine:

• The Leadership Conference of Women Religious has a series of very detailed analyses of each candidate's position on specific issues.



• Network, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, has a very useful Election Chart.



• The National Catholic Reporter Online has a "Catholic Social Teaching Report Card" that assesses which candidate is more consistent with Catholic principles.



• Pax Christi USA has an online statement, "Life Does Not End At Birth" which requests Catholics to sign on if they believe that they must vote for the common good by considering all significant issues.



• The Detroit News of 9/26-28/04 has an important series that evaluates the impact of the Bush tax cuts of 2001 on the Working Poor.

Other Related Articles

• "Partisans try to narrow Catholics’ choices" (NCR Editorial, 10/1/04)


• "Voting Our Conscience, Not Our Religion," by Mark Roche (N.Y. Times, 10/11/04)


• "President's policies are in opposition to a culture of life," by Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton (Detroit Free Press, 10/20/04)


• "Catholics split statewide over moral choices" by Patricia Montemurri (Detroit Free Press, 10/25/2004)

Downloadable Resources

• "Life Does Not End at Birth", Ad by Pax Christi


• "How Do Catholics Measure a Culture of Life?" Flyer
  
  
  

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