The
Shepherds Teach:
Vote Pro-Life
No public official, especially one claiming to be a faithful and serious
Catholic, can responsibly advocate for or actively support direct attacks
on innocent human life. -- American Bishops, Living the Gospel of Life:
A Challenge to American Catholics, December of 1998
A political leader... is an architect of society... without a respect
for life, all things fall apart. Political leaders must carry in their
own minds and hearts the defense of the right to life and offer it to
the community. Without this defense of life, the political leader, instead
of contributing to the construction of society, destroys it. -- His Eminence
Alfonso Cardinal Lopez-Trujillo, President of the Pontifical Council for
the Family
We, the Four Bishops of Massachusetts, ... in a particular way, wish to underscore the absolute centrality of... the protection of human life. Support and promotion of abortion by any candidate is always wrong and can never be justified. We will never cease to denounce abortion and euthanasia and teach all Catholics that to support those positions is to support death over life.
Abortion is not just one issue among many. It is a foundational issue, as are
other life-related issues before our society. I urge all citizens to consider
the paramount importance of these issues and to acknowledge by their support
that neither party membership, nor personal self-interest, nor traditional
loyalties can have the same importance as protecting innocent human life.
The Lord would not expect less of His disciples.--Most Reverend John J.
Myers, Bishop of Peoria Sincerely in the Lord, Oct. 17, 2000
Abortion is the issue this year and every year in every campaign. Catholics
may not turn away from the moral challenges that abortion poses for those
who seek to obey God's commands. They are wrong when they assert that...
it is only one of a multitude of issues of equal importance. No, the taking
of innocent human life is so heinous, so horribly evil, and so absolutely
opposite to the law of Almighty God that abortion must take precedence
over every other issue. I repeat. It is the single most important -- Most
Reverend James Timlin, Bishop of Scranton -- The Ballot and the Right
to Life
One of the appeals the bishops have consistently made to Catholics and,
by extension, to all men and women of good will is "to see beyond party
politics, to analyze campaign rhetoric carefully, and to choose their
political leaders according to principle, not merely party affiliation
or mere self interest." This is not opposition to political parties as
such. In fact political parties have been the normal way that democracies
guarantee that a variety of opinions be heard and real choices offered.
It does say that "my party, right or wrong" is not an intelligent approach
to the issues. It does say that we have to assess parties and judge if
they do, in fact, reflect our teaching and our principles on specific
issues or have they changed their coloration and become parties of self
interest rather than the common good.--
Catholics and the Church belong in our political life
His Eminence, Bernard Cardinal Law, Archbishop of Boston
Most Reverend Thomas Dupre, Bishop of Springfield
Most Reverend Sean O'Malley, Bishop of Fall River
Most Reverend Daniel Reilly, Bishop of Worcester
Most Reverend William Murphy, Archdiocese of Boston