The U.S. bishops' "Faithful Citizenship" document on Catholics' voting responsibilities should be revised to remove "loopholes" that allow Catholics to vote for pro-abortion politicians, two political commentators have said.
"Why should a Catholic voter feel the weighty obligation to oppose 'intrinsically evil acts' when the bishops themselves provide three different loopholes to put that concern aside?" asked Catholic Advocate president Deal Hudson and Catholic Advocate vice president Matt Smith in a July 14 statement.
Without changes, they warned, the document will provide Catholic voters "another carte blanche to cast their vote for any pro-abortion candidate they want."
The two writers focused on sections 34 to 37 from the 2008 version of "Faithful Citizenship," which is revised every four years.
One passage said a Catholic who rejects a candidate's "unacceptable position" may decide to vote for that candidate for "other morally grave reasons." This voting is permissible only for "truly grave moral reasons" and not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences.
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