Bishops are issuing letters telling Catholics they cannot vote for candidates who hold pro-choice views and remain in good standing in the church.
Two Texas bishops have released a letter informing their congregants whom they can and can’t vote for and remain faithful members of the Roman Catholic Church.
The missive by Bishop Kevin Farrell of the Diocese of Dallas and Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Fort Worth is being read in all Catholic churches in the area. It states in part, “To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or ‘abortion rights’ when there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil – and, therefore, morally impermissible.”
The letter never mentions Democratic candidate Barack Obama or his opponent, John McCain, by name. But you’d have to be very dense indeed not to get the message. Farrell and Vann go on to assert that other issues traditionally important to Catholics – social justice, care for the poor, health care – need not be seriously considered this year. Instead, Catholics must base their vote on abortion.
The Dallas Morning News reported that when the letter was read in some churches this past weekend, some people walked out.
Nicole LeBlanc, a member of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Dallas, was among them.
“As a Catholic, we’re taught about being independent moral agents with free will,” LeBlanc said. “That letter from the bishops is basically telling us that if we vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, we are basically immoral and our souls are imperiled.”
Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn said the bishops are walking a fine line.
“This is clearly an attempt on the part of these bishops to do an end-run around the federal tax law ban on electioneering by churches,” Lynn told the Morning News.
Farrell and Vann are not the only bishops deliberately striding into a legal gray area this election season. A similar letter was issued by Bishop Joseph F. Martino of Scranton, Pa., and was read in churches Oct. 4-5. In the letter, Martino insisted that faithful Catholics must vote solely on the issue of abortion and not support any pro-choice candidates.
Martino went even further, adding, “[P]ublic officials who are Catholic and who persist in public support for abortion and other intrinsic evils should not partake in or be admitted to the sacrament of Holy Communion. As I have said before, I will be vigilant on this subject.”
So, less than three weeks before the election, bishops are issuing letters telling Catholics that they cannot vote for candidates who hold pro-choice views and remain in good standing in the church. That sure sounds to me like the church is favoring certain candidates over others and trying to affect the outcome of the race.
Here’s where it gets interesting: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issues guidelines for political activity by churches. These guidelines, echoing federal tax law and interpretation by the Internal Revenue Service, warn, “A Catholic organization may not directly or indirectly make any statement, in any medium, to endorse, support, or oppose any candidate for public office, political party, or PAC.”
Elsewhere the guidelines read, “IRS acknowledges that an issue advocacy communication may constitute intervention in a political campaign through the use of code words, such as ‘conservative’, ‘liberal’, ‘pro-life’, ‘pro-choice’, ‘anti-choice’, ‘Republican’, or ‘Democrat’, coupled with a discussion of a candidacy or election, even if no candidate is specifically named. (Emphasis mine.) IRS advises that for an issue advocacy communication to violate the political campaign intervention prohibition, ‘there must be some reasonably overt indication in the communication to the reader, viewer, or listener that the organization supports or opposes a particular candidate (or slate of candidates) in an election, rather than being a message restricted to an issue.’”
It’s great that the USCCB issues those political guidelines. It would be better if the bishops actually read and followed them.
When it comes to the presidential contest, it would be difficult to read the Farrell-Vann letter and the one issued by Martino as anything but an indirect endorsement of McCain. If the bishops now take the next step and issue “voter guides” telling where the candidates stand on abortion, they will be in clear violation of federal tax law, and an IRS investigation would be in order.
In the meantime, I have a recommendation for all those church members out there who are angry at the bishops’ attempts to infuse partisan politics with the pulpit: Take a tip from Nicole LeBlanc – you’ve got feet; don’t be afraid to use them.
UPDATE: Ms. LeBlanc informs me that while she disagrees with the bishops’ letter, she was not among those who walked out of the church. She intends to remain and work for change from within.
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