Urge Your Pastor To Equip Your Parish On The Final
Weekend Before Election Day!
October 31, 2016
There is one more weekend before Election Day. Millions and millions of voters will be gathering in their Churches from coast to coast. Many of these are still undecided.
And they want to do the right thing and they trust the guidance of their pastors.
Few institutions in our nation can have more of an impact on the election than the Church.
Yet many pastors have still not spoken up!
They are not sure what to say or how to say it.
And some have even given unhelpful advice.
But we at Priests for Life make it as easy as possible for priests and pastors of all denominations to teach their people about political responsibility and to mobilize voters in a way that advances the culture of life!
And this task is not just ours… but Yours!
Between now and Election Day, we are calling on pastors to do three simple things. I will give you the specific tools related to these actions, but here are the actions in a nutshell:
1. Have your parish pray the Election Prayer. It can be linked from the parish website, or placed in the bulletin, or distributed on the prayer cards that we make available.
2. Share with parishioners three key quotes from Pope Saint John Paul II, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, and the entire body of United States bishops. These quotes indicate what common sense also tells us: no issue matters more in the election than abortion.
These quotes can be preached from the pulpit, printed in the bulletin, or placed on the parish website.
3. Distribute the non-partisan Comparison Piece on the Party Platforms (available in English and Spanish). This one-page educational piece is legally fit for distribution by Churches (a legal letter is also available at the website), and will help voters understand the philosophy and policy preferences of the Republican and Democratic parties.
This guides voters in practically every race at every level of government, all in one shot.
So, three simple steps that we are challenging Churches to carry out.
Remember the presidential election of the year 2000? The margin of victory ended up being only a few hundred votes in a single state! That's smaller than the size of many parish congregations!
And when you click on the link below you'll be led to the various resources I've just mentioned.
But we need you to act fast. For items to be placed in the parish bulletin this coming weekend, those in the parish who prepare the bulletin need to be told right away!
And we are also asking these clergy to
Tell us that they are doing it or explain why they won't!
You, of course, can convey that information to us if you receive it first.
And please note that while the quotes we provide are from Catholic authorities, the prayer is interdenominational and the voter guide, of course, can be used by anyone.
Now in some cases, the best route to the pastor may not be to go to him directly, but to approach other leaders in the parish whom you may know better or who may be better able to lobby the pastor to do this. Do not hesitate to use whatever route is most likely to succeed!
So please click here for the information you can pass along to your pastor! And then let us know what happened!
And finally, please forward this email to everyone else that you think may be interested in doing this!
Sincerely,
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
P.S. This is the type of action that Priests for Life can take nationwide as we mobilize our movement. To help make it possible for Priests for Life to conduct campaigns such as this one, please click here and be as generous as you can.