ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210100
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
As they exercise their political responsibilities, Catholics should "be involved [in], but not used" by political parties, the Christian Coalition or any other group, the Most Rev. Walter F. Sullivan told a Roanoke workshop Monday.
Sullivan, bishop of the Diocese of Richmond, which includes Western Virginia, was the keynote speaker at the workshop at Our Lady of Nazareth Church.
Catholic priests and lay people from as far away as Danville and Harrisonburg came to Roanoke to hear Sullivan and to participate in small-group discussions of issues related to the upcoming elections and ongoing political involvement. It was the first in a series of such workshops to be held throughout the diocese.
The U.S. Catholic Conference, which produced most of the materials used in the workshop, has been releasing quadrennial statements on political responsibility since the 1970s and insisted that this year's statement was not a response to the Christian Coalition's effort to organize an auxiliary Catholic Alliance.
Sullivan, however, acknowledged in his remarks that the Coalition's Catholic organizing effort was an impetus for the workshops. ``We became aware responsibility for Catholics, who are increasingly being seen as "swing voters."
Sullivan last September drew fire after media reports of a pastoral letter he wrote warning parishes not to allow the distribution of Christian Coalition ``voter guides'' on their property. Some interpreted Sullivan's statement as a warning not to join the Catholic Alliance, which he said he did not intend.
Though he and other workshop speakers reiterated that individual Catholics are free to be involved in the coalition or partisan political activities, it was important for the church as an institution to be free from any association with partisan politics.
Monday, Sullivan said again that he doesn't like the "Catholic Alliance" name, which "sounds like it is being promoted by the church or advocated by the church. That is not true."
The bishop said he sees the Christian Coalition as "purely political," and its "voter guides" as "very slanted" and "something the church shouldn't be involved in distributing."
Catholic moral teaching is in agreement with Christian Coalition positions on many issues - opposition to abortion, euthanasia and pornography, for instance - but there have already been times when the church and the coalition have been at odds on legislative issues, said Steve Colecchi, a special assistant to the bishop.
Disagreements included a bill that would have blocked welfare benefits for any children born to a woman already on welfare. The Christian Coalition supported that measure, Colecchi said, while it was opposed by the Catholic Church on grounds that it would promote additional abortions by women who might perceive that they could not afford such a child.
Abortion is just one aspect of the broader issue of what speakers described as "the consistent ethic of life" that should be the foundational guiding principle for Catholics' political decision-making.
Sullivan warned the audience - members of which were expected to share the discussion with their home parishes and facilitate dialogue on the issues there - not to be single-issue voters.
While a single issue can legitimately motivate political involvement, Catholics should examine the full range of issues, as well as candidates' personal integrity, philosophy and performance, the participants were told.
Consistency on moral issues demands that "if you are against abortion, you must also be concerned for children that are living," Sullivan said. Similarly, the Catholic Church teaches that a consistent ethic for life demands opposition to such issues as capital punishment and the production of nuclear weapons.
Calls for welfare reform to encourage people to work, which Sullivan said he supports, should include provisions for job training, job availability, transportation and child care to be ethically consistent, he said.
While it is important for Catholics to discuss these issues with each other and with their priests, Sullivan said he opposes a priest attempting to address them from the pulpit.
"That is not a dialogue," the bishop said in an interview, and can easily be misinterpreted as an endorsement of a political party or ideology. "People resent being used."
Parishes can provide other opportunities for dialogue, however, including nonpartisan candidate forums and "unbiased candidate questionnaires."
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB