Media focus on the bishops’ meeting
And it’s not until next week. It’s only going to intensify, because the bishops are tackling the “Faithful Citizenship” document that guides Catholics on voting with the heart and mind of the Church human rights and moral truths.
Should Catholics vote for the presidential candidate who shares their faith even though all five Catholic candidates break with the church’s teachings on life questions such as abortion and stem cell research?
The media are enlivened over this one.
Although the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issues such guidelines every four years, this is the first time it will hash it out in public debate.
On the table: whether a “wrong” stance on life can be balanced or outweighed if the candidate’s views are in line with the church on opposing the Iraq war, supporting immigration reform, battling poverty or other social issues.
Currently, the draft says, “The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life is always wrong and is not just one issue among many” that Catholics should consider.
So no fewer than seven committees of bishops have now developed the proposed statement for 2008 and sent their 13,000-word draft to the whole hierarchy for reactions and amendments….
The bishops have tried, however, to give the 2008 document a distinctly more authoritative and doctrinal flavor. Whereas the 2004 statement was titled “Faithful Citizenship,†this draft is titled “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.†Formation of conscience — the idea that properly exercising one’s conscience is not just a matter of gut feeling but requires serious study and reflection, especially on the teachings of one’s church — was not missing as a theme in the bishops’ previous statements. But here it has new prominence.
Which is focusing attention on the right to life as most fundamental of all human rights. If we don’t get that right, how coherent is it to argue about the morality of war and immigration and health care?