THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 12, 1995 TAG: 9509120298
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
Roman Catholic Bishop Walter F. Sullivan has sent a letter to pastoral leaders in the Richmond diocese warning them to resist the Christian Coalition's efforts to recruit members and distribute its voter guides in Catholic churches.
Earlier this month, the Chesapeake-based Christian Coalition, which has about 250,000 Catholics among the 1.7 million donors to its grassroots organization, announced plans to form a ``Catholic Alliance'' this fall. That Catholic wing will get its kickoff just before Pope John Paul II arrives in the United States next month.
``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. ``We cannot allow the Church to be used for partisan purposes.''
Sullivan included a newspaper article about the coalition's plans in his letter, which was mailed Friday. The Richmond diocese serves about 162,000 Catholics in 131 parishes, stretching from Chincoteague, on the Eastern Shore, across Hampton Roads, to Cumberland Gap, Ky.
``I write to reaffirm the longstanding policy of the Diocese which prohibits the distribution of voter guides,'' he wrote. ``It is equally inappropriate for parishes to allow partisan groups to solicit membership support from parishioners.''
The Richmond diocese, like many others across the country, refuses voter guides prepared by all outside political groups, because church officials say they are typically partisan and don't provide candidates' positions on a broad enough range of issues. Some churches of other denominations in Hampton Roads also refuse to accept voter guides.
The Christian Coalition is officially nonpartisan, but it has increasingly been allied with the Republican Party. The coalition spent $1 million to promote the GOP's ``Contract with America'' before unveiling its own legislative agenda this spring.
At the coalition's annual conference this weekend, the group's founder, Christian evangelist and businessman Pat Robertson, urged more than 4,000 grassroots activists to commit themselves to gaining control of the Republican Party organizations in all 50 states.
Christian conservatives are dominant in Republican parties in 18 states, including Virginia, and exercise heavy influence in 13 other states, according to the magazine Campaigns & Elections. ``We've got more work to do,'' Robertson said, ``Because I like 100 percent, not 60 or 70 percent.'' Robertson and the coalition's executive director, Ralph Reed, could not be reached Monday for comment.
Sullivan, in an interview Monday, mentioned Robertson's statements this weekend as one example of the coalition's partisanship. He said Catholic priests and pastoral leaders are encouraged to bring Gospel values to public issues, but are not allowed to promote politicians or a party's political agenda.
He said Catholics and people of many different faiths, including evangelical Christians who make up the bulk of the coalition's membership, should work together on a range of public issues. Catholics and evangelicals have long been allied in fighting abortion, and Sullivan mentioned health care reform, care for the poor and world peace as other issues ripe for cooperation.
``It's really coalescing around issues of common concern,'' he said. ``That's a big difference from joining a coalition. It's like a political party.''
Sullivan said his letter was timed for the election in November, when every seat in the Virginia General Assembly will be up for grabs.
``I urge you to share the Church's social teaching and its applications to today's social concerns,'' Sullivan wrote. ``In this way, the parish can help parishioners to pursue the common good, and can protect the integrity of the Church's voice in an increasingly politicized environment.'' ILLUSTRATION: SULLIVAN'S STAND
Roman Catholic Bishop Walter F. Sullivan sent a letter to the
region's church leaders reminding them of his longstanding policy
prohibiting the distribution of voter guides in Catholic churches.
His letter was triggered by the Chesapeake-based Christian
Coalition's plan to start a Catholic wing and distribute voter
guides in the nation's Catholic churches.
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY GUIDELINES
Roman Catholic Bishop Walter F. Sullivan's letter included
guidelines for parishes in the Richmond diocese, which includes
162,000 Catholics.
DO
Share Catholic social teaching on human life, human rights,
justice and peace.
Address the moral/human dimension of public issues.
Apply our values to legislation and public policy issues.
Invite all candidates for public office to a church-sponsored
public forum, debate or candidate night.
Conduct a nonpartisan voter registration drive on church
property.
Encourage parishioners to vote.
DON'T
Endorse or oppose candidates for political office.
Distribute partisan campaign literature under church auspices or
on church property.
Arrange for groups to work for a political candidate.
Invite only selected candidates to address your church-sponsored
group.
Conduct voter registration slanted toward one party.
Distribute a biased candidate survey or a single-issue survey.
by CNB