A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility

In our bulletin at St. Al's Sunday, the social justice folks referred parishioners to a good Web site at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops titled: Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility.

The debate over Kerry's Communion-worthy status has taken away from the social justice issues that can guide Catholic votes, too. This Web site articulates these points well.

Here are two excerpts:

"A Catholic moral framework does not easily fit the ideologies of "right" or "left," nor the platforms of any party. Our values are often not "politically correct." Believers are called to be a community of conscience within the larger society and to test public life by the values of Scripture and the principles of Catholic social teaching. Our responsibility is to measure all candidates, policies, parties, and platforms by how they protect or undermine the life, dignity, and rights of the human person, whether they protect the poor and vulnerable and advance the common good."

And:
"Politics in this election year and beyond should be about an old idea with new power--the common good. The central question should not be, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" It should be, "How can ‘we'--all of us, especially the weak and vulnerable--be better off in the years ahead? How can we protect and promote human life and dignity? How can we pursue greater justice and peace?"