Fake 'Catholic Voters Guide' published by former aide to John Kerry

An attempt to recapture the Catholic vote has been launched by Democratic supporters. A new 2006 Voter Guide has been put out by "Catholic in Alliance for the Common Good" (CACG) a group headed up by Alexia Kelley who in 2004 worked as a religion advisor to John Kerry in the closing weeks of his campaign.

An initial printing of one million copies of "Voting for the Common Good: A Practical Guide for Conscientious Catholics" will be distributed nationwide through on-the-ground organizers and partner networks in all 50 states, says CACG. The groups admits in a press release that the new voter guide is a response to the original "Catholic Voters Guide" issued by Catholic Answers last year.

The new voter guide has been described as "slick" by the Catholic League for its deceptive wording which falsely leads Catholics to consider abortion as just one of many important social justice issues to be taken into account when electing politicians.

Commenting on the new 12-page booklet, Catholic League president Bill Donohue said "The voter guide is a slick attempt to get the abortion albatross off the necks of Catholic Democrats, but it's a failed effort-the noose is still there. Instead of listening to James Carville and Paul Begala, who have counseled Democrats to drop their opposition to parental notification laws and their support for keeping partial-birth abortion legal, the best Catholics in Alliance can do is say it is opposed to abortion. But it makes it painfully clear that it will never join any effort to ban any abortions, including partial-birth."

The Catholic Democrats' guide contradicts the guidance of Cardinal Ratzinger prior to his election to the papacy. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote a doctrinal note, approved by then-Pope John Paul II, which stated: "[A] well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals." The doctrinal note added, "laws must defend the basic right to life from conception to natural death . . . Analogously, the family needs to be safeguarded and promoted based on monogamous marriage between a man and a woman."