I am Matt Thomas.

Life Does Not End at Birth

October 12, 2004

Finally, there is a group working to spread the word to fellow Catholics that abortion, gay marriage, and stem cells aren’t enough to base your political decisions on. Catholics have a rich history of supporting the poor, the disenfranchised, the underdogs of society. Despite what the ultra-conservative Catholics who get most of the press would have you believe, this is what being Catholic is really about. Reprinted here is the text of Pax Christi’s campaign.

“A Catholic moral framework does not easily fit the ideologies of ‘right’ or ‘left,’ nor the platforms of any party… 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.” –From Faithful Citizenship, issued by the United States Catholic Bishops.

It is a common misperception of politicians seeking office that the Catholic vote can be courted by addressing a narrow range of issues. In reality, the great majority of Catholics in the U.S., in agreement with the U.S. Catholic Bishops, will vote for candidates based “on the full range of issues, as well as on [the candidate’s] personal integrity, philosophy and performance.” (??Faithful Citizenship,?? U.S. Catholic Bishops, 2004).

Members of the media—and indeed a few of our own religious leaders—do a great disservice to our church and nation when they attempt to use one or another issue as the benchmark for Catholic identity.

“The Christian faith is an integral unity, and thus it is incoherent to isolate some particular element to the detriment of the whole of Catholic doctrine. A political commitment to a single isolated aspect of the Church’s social doctrine does not exhaust one’s responsibility toward the common good” (??Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life,?? Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, November 24, 2002 and approved by the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II).

The Catholic Church teaches that all life is sacred. A candidate for office must understand that the Church stands against any policy or course of action which diminishes life, dignity or the rights of the human person: abortion, capital punishment, war, scandalous poverty, denial of healthcare, mistreatment of immigrants and racism, to name but a few.

There are 60 million Catholics in the U.S. We take the responsibility of voting seriously. Each of us will evaluate candidates based on what our conscience—formed by reading the signs of the times in light of the example of Jesus in the Scriptures and the teachings of our Church throughout the ages—demands. We will examine the broad range of issues, measuring “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” (“Faithful Citizenship,” U.S. Catholic Bishops, 2004).

To support this statement, and lend your name to the thousands of faithful citizens who agree with the U.S. Bishops that we should vote on the full range of issues that impact the common good, click here!