Commentaries on Catholics and Political Life


 Address of Senator John F. Kennedy to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association
Audio and transcript of then Senator Kennedy's remarks regarding his faith and his candidacy for President of the United States.

 

Keeping God in the Closet: Some Thoughts on the Exorcism of Religious Values from Public Life
An address by Congressman Henry J. Hyde delivered September 24, 1984, at the Thomas J. White Center on Law and Government in the University of Notre Dame Law School.

 

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: "Religious Belief and Public Morality: A Catholic Governor's Perspective."  

Remarks delivered at Notre Dame University by Mario Cuomo, September 13, 1984

 

Catholics, Politics & Abortion: My argument with Mario Cuomo
Kenneth L. Woodward, religion editor for Newsweek, considers Governor Cuomo's argument of personal opposition to abortion, yet his failure to attempt to moderate the Democratic Party's embrace of abortion.

 

The Failure of Catholic Political Leadership
Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, and William L. Saunders, senior fellow for human life studies at the Family Research Council, consider the options available to Church leadership in dealing with Catholic politicians who openly support abortion.

 

Catholic Politicians and Abortion Funding

Germain Grisez is professor of Christian ethics at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, Md.  This article was originally published in America magazine.

 

My Conscience, My Vote
Congressman David R. Obey addresses his exchange with Bishop Burke regarding his voting record on life issues. This article was originally published in America magazine.

 

Caught Between God and Caesar
Joseph A. Califano Jr. was U.S. secretary of health, education and welfare from 1977 to 1979. This article was originally published in America magazine.

 

American Catholics and the State
Gregory A. Kalscheur, S.J., is an assistant professor at the Boston College Law School. This article was originally published in America magazine.

 

Mirror of Justice Weblog
This weblog contains commentary by a number of Catholic academic lawyers who approach various issues from differing political perspectives.

 

A Catholic Votes for George W. Bush
This article by George Weigel appears in the September 27, 2004 issue of America magazine.

 

The Case for Bush This article by Robert Royal was originally published in the October 8, 2004 issue of Commonweal Magazine.

 

A Catholic Votes for John Kerry by James R. Kelly (full text not available online at this time)  While the complete text of Professor Kelly's article is not available online, the arguments presented by Professor Kelly are similar to the arguments presented in an editorial in the Houston Chronicle Why Abortion Rate is Up in Bush Years

 

The Case for Kerry This article by Thomas Higgins was originally published in the October 8, 2004 issue of Commonweal Magazine.

 

Living with the GOP argues that the decline in abortions during the Clinton years was due to enactment of abortion regulations by largely Republican legislatures in the states, and independent of the economy.

 

Where are the fruits? Article by Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., Director of Education & Research and Laura Hussey, M.P.M., Special Research Assistant, National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund explaining why Dr. Stassen’s claims that Bush’s policies increased abortion are baseless.

 

The Case for None of the Above  This article by Paul Griffiths argues that neither Kerry nor Bush deserve the vote of faithful Catholics.  It was originally published in the October 8, 2004 issue of Commonweal Magazine.

 

John Kerry's Open Mind
Christianity Today profiles the faith of John Kerry.

 

Our view on abortion, Catholics and politics
A pastoral response to the question, "can a conscientious pro-life Catholic vote for Kerry?"

 

Is There Such a Thing as the "Catholic Vote"?
PBS sponsored discussion involving various views as part of the station's religion and ethics programming.

 

The Myth of the Catholic Voter Jody Bottum argues that Catholics are no longer distinctive in their concerns as a voting block.

  

John Courtney Murray, Contraception, and the "Liberal Catholic" Justification for Abortion  

 

Sacred Monkeys A theologian looks at proper discernment of “proportionate cause.”

 

A Catechism for the Catholic Voter

 

Public Witness/Public Scandal
Brief papers presented at the Ave Maria School of Law conference “Public Witness/Public Scandal: Faith, Politics, and Life Issues in the Catholic Church,” addressing the controversy over Catholic politicians who consistently advocate and vote against pro-life positions.

 

Catholics in Political Life by Henry Hyde
Congressman Hyde responses to the Vatican's statement on the responsibility of Catholic politicians noting its emphasis on the moral dimension of democracy.

 

Pew Forum on Religion in Politics
Part of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, this site provides commentary, links and news related to religion and politics in an attempt to promote a deeper understanding of issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs.

 

Transcript of Archbishop Chaput and NYT Reporter    "Group of Bishops Using Influence to Oppose Kerry" - A New York Times story based in part on an interview with Archbishop Chaput.  The Archbishop subsequently posted a transcript of his interview with the reporter for members of his diocese to evaluate his comments and the reporting of them.  I urge you to read both the transcript and the Times' article. 

 

Bush campaign's outreach to Catholic voters

 

Kerry Shares Our Values