NEWS STORY: Capitol Hill Catholics Compare Voting Records With Church Teaching

c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Intense focus on Sen. John Kerry’s Catholic credentials in his race for the White House has spilled over onto Capitol Hill as lawmakers from both parties debate whose voting records are more “in sync” with Catholic teaching. Two Democratic House members _ Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Rick […]

c. 2004 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Intense focus on Sen. John Kerry’s Catholic credentials in his race for the White House has spilled over onto Capitol Hill as lawmakers from both parties debate whose voting records are more “in sync” with Catholic teaching.

Two Democratic House members _ Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Rick Lampson of Texas _ have drafted an internal research paper that apparently shows their party is more in line with church teaching than Republicans.


According to The Hill newspaper, the “scorecard” compares the votes of Catholic House members with policy positions taken by American Catholic bishops on cloning, partial-birth abortion, taxes, gay marriage, the minimum wage and other issues.

The Hill reported that the 67 House Democrats who are Catholic voted in accordance in church positions an average of 76 percent of the time, while the 49 Catholic Republicans averaged 64 percent.

The comparison was immediately denounced by conservatives and Republicans as a “smokescreen” for Kerry, whose support of abortion rights has prompted threats from some church bishops that he be denied the sacraments.

Aides to both DeLauro and Lampson insist the study is not a “scorecard” but instead a “research paper” intended for private use. They also described The Hill’s reporting as premature.

“We believe we have the right to engage in private, informal discussions about our faith without being subjected to such political attacks,” DeLauro and Lampson said in a joint statement.

DeLauro, who scored a zero from the National Right to Life Committee and a 100 from NARAL Pro-Choice America, said she and other Democrats are “in sync with the broad-based teachings of the church.” To focus solely on abortion misses “the fullness and richness” of church teaching, she said.

“I don’t judge anybody on who’s a better Catholic or not,” she said in an interview. “That’s not my job to do. There’s no political scorecard that does that. That really distorts what our religious convictions are, what our faith is about.”


According to The Hill, 13 Democrats scored a 90 percent or better in the survey. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco ranked near the bottom at 63.6 percent, followed only by Rep. Ellen Tauscher, also of California, at 60 percent.

Among Republicans, Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey scored the highest, at 72.7 percent, while Rep. Virginia Brown-Waite of Florida scored the lowest, at 28.6 percent.

Deal Hudson, publisher of the conservative Catholic magazine Crisis, said other policy positions simply “do not matter as much” as how a politician votes on the church’s moral opposition to abortion and other “life issues.”

“It’s absurd to think you can do an issue scorecard and ignore the fact that the protection of innocent life is the single most important issue that any Catholic politician or voter should consider,” said Hudson, who has close ties to the Bush White House.

Republican congressional leaders also cried foul, accusing Democrats of trying to twist church teaching to fit their voting records, rather than voting in accord with church teaching.

“You can put up as much smoke and mirrors as you want, but sooner or later the truth is going to come out,” said Chris Paulitz, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, who is Catholic.


In January 2003, the Vatican issued a “doctrinal note” that advised Catholic politicians they have the “right and the duty” to uphold church teachings in their public life.

“A well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals,” the Vatican said.

Since 1976, American bishops have offered their own election-year guidelines that emphasize church teaching on abortion, war and peace, and social justice concerns.

“People of goodwill and sound faith can disagree about specific applications of Catholic principles,” the bishops said in their latest edition of “Faithful Citizenship,” from September 2003. “However, Catholics in public life have a particular responsibility to bring together consistently their faith, moral principles and public responsibilities.”

A task force of seven bishops headed by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington is compiling a list of “best practices” to help bishops deal with politicians who dissent from church teaching _ and not just on abortion.

“The goal of the task force is not because of the 2004 elections and it’s not for the 2004 elections,” said Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for McCarrick. “The task force is a much broader project.”


DEA/PH END ECKSTROM

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