FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                            

Contact:  Jerry Horn, 540-220-0095

Date: October 16, 2006                                                        

Prominent Priest: “No Excuses” for Churches Re: Politics

Washington, DC – As we approach Election Day and various voter educational materials have caused controversy within the Catholic community regarding what best expresses the Church’s guidance to voters and what is appropriate legally, Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, issued a simple and urgent challenge to his brother priests: “Quote the bishops.”

“In their documents ‘Living the Gospel of Life’ (1998) and ‘Faithful Citizenship’ (2003), the bishops of the United States have said what needs to be said to prepare the Church to participate in the elections.  These documents are legally safe and doctrinally sound.  Why don’t we just quote them?  We have no excuse whatsoever for failing to convey to our people what the Church says about their political responsibility,” Fr. Pavone explained.

He continued, “Both documents contain the following words: ‘Abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human life and dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental good and the condition for all others.’  Anyone who denies this is denying the teaching of the bishops, and anyone who thinks that preaching this violates our tax-exempt status is implying that the bishops as a body have risked such a violation.”

Priests for Life has prepared camera-ready, paragraph length bulletin inserts that quote both documents.  They are available at www.priestsforlife.org/bulletin.

 Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.

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