Catholic voters face questions

During the 2004 U.S. election, some bishops insisted that Catholics should obey church teachings in deciding how to vote.

Some bishops even declared that pro-choice Catholic politicians should be denied Communion. A stance I tend to agree on. I had some very serious dissussion with Catholic clergy over all this and many good men had very different answers for me.

These deep questions alway seem to resurface every time an election approaches. Which church teachings on what issues ought to matter most? How should Catholics decide between candidates? If Catholic politicians are obliged to follow church teachings when making laws, are Catholic judges also supposed to “vote Catholic” in deciding cases?

About 44 percent of Catholics, compared to 42 percent of all Americans, identify as Democrats; 41 percent of Catholics, compared to 38 percent of all Americans, identify as Republicans; and 15 percent of Catholics, versus 20 percent of all Americans, identify as Independents. You can see where the confusion happens.

There are big political divides between Catholic bishops and their flocks on controversial issues. For instance, the Catechism of the Catholic Church condemns and forbids abortion. The first entry in the subject index says it all: “Abortion: condemnation in the early church; excommunication as penalty; inalienable right to life; protection of human life from the moment of conception.”

Yet, in a June 2004 survey of Catholics likely to cast votes in the November 2004 national elections, about 60 percent of Catholics agreed that abortion should be legal under some or all circumstances, and roughly three-quarters of Catholics denied that Catholics have a religious obligation to vote against pro-choice candidates. Asked whether Communion should be denied to Catholic politicians who support abortion’s legality under some or all circumstances, Catholics were more likely to disagree (78 percent). If few Catholics follow the teaching of the Church, why would they expect theor elcted officals to do so?

There is a great article that goes in deapth on this subject here.