Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 19, 1995 TAG: 9509190059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Bishop Walter F. Sullivan said in a news release that an Associated Press story carried in The Roanoke Times and other newspapers in the state Thursday incorrectly said he had urged parishioners to stay away from the conservative Christian group.
The bishop, whose diocese includes Western Virginia, "has not asked Catholics to refrain from joining the Christian Coalition or participating in politics," the release said. Rather, he was outlining what is permissible conduct for parishes, not individuals.
Stephen Colecchi, Sullivan's special assistant, said Monday that "Anyone who understands the Catholic Church" would have questioned the accuracy of the news account.
Sullivan wrote to pastors and pastoral coordinators in the diocese after a Sept. 4 news report that the Christian Coalition was forming a Catholic Alliance to distribute voter guides at Catholic churches and recruit members from parishes.
Sullivan reminded them that diocesan guidelines prohibit the distribution of voter guides by any outside group on parish grounds. It is also "inappropriate for parishes to allow partisan political groups to solicit membership support from parishioners," Sullivan wrote.
The coalition describes itself as a nonpartisan organization, but it is particularly influential in the Republican Party. Its most recent Virginia General Assembly "scorecard," for instance, recorded that legislators consistently voting in favor of the Christian Coalition position were overwhelmingly Republican.
Sullivan's letter included a copy of the "political responsibility guidelines for parishes." Those guidelines, which Colecchi said are distributed to parishes every year, encourage voting, education on social issues and the study of Catholic social teaching. They prohibit parishes from endorsing or opposing candidates for political office, distribution of partisan political campaign literature, and other actions that might be perceived as favoring one candidate over another.
"We cannot allow any group, even through the use of the name 'Catholic,' to give the appearance that they speak for the church," Sullivan wrote. Even when church teaching is in agreement with another outside group on "important issues, ... no outside group fully represents the public policy agenda of the church."
Sullivan wrote that "individual Catholics are free to join whatever group they wish, but the Catholic Church and its parishes should not engage in partisan politics."
The idea is to "keep the voice of the church free" of any partisan political identification, Colecchi said. On the other hand, "individuals are free to be as partisan as they like."
Although most Catholics understand that the bishop cannot require them to avoid or join any political group, Colecchi said, a handful of people did call the diocesan offices concerned about last week's story.
by CNB