Holy Season of Lent My dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus: Monastic life, a vocation lived out in silence and contemplation, is a unique vocation and a special call to enter into vowed, consecrated religious life in an atmosphere of solitude. In my November 2018 column in the Catholic Courier, I wrote extensively about the monastic communities I […]

Cell phone safety for children When and if a child should get a cell phone is ultimately a parental decision. Children want cell phones for games and social communication. Parents want their children to have a cell phone for safety. When you give your child a cell phone, you are giving them a portable computer […]

Our Cherished Right, Our Solemn Duty

By the Catholic Bishops of New York State

Every four years, 12 months prior to the
presidential election, the Bishops of the
United States issue a statement calling
Catholics to faithful citizenship. Simply put,
faithful citizenship refers to our duty as Catholics
to be full participants in the public square in
order to make our nation and the world a better
and more just place. With this duty comes the
responsibility to exercise our right to vote and
to be engaged in the political process. This right
did not come easily, having been bought with the
blood of our forebears and protected through the
centuries by our Constitution and the men and
women in uniform who defend it.
We Catholics are called to look at politics as
we are called to look at everything – through the
lens of our faith. While we are free to join any
political party that we choose or none at all, we
must be cautious when we vote not to be guided
solely by party loyalty nor by self interest. Rather,
we should be guided in evaluating the important
issues facing our state and nation by the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and the teachings of His Church.
Our national and state elected officials have
profound influence on countless matters of great
importance, such as the right to life, issues of war
and peace, the education of children and how we
treat the poor and vulnerable. We must look at
all of these issues as we form our consciences in
preparation for Election Day, November 4.
It is the rare candidate who will agree with the
Church on every issue. But as the U.S. Bishops’
recent document Forming Consciences for Faithful
Citizenship (www.faithfulcitizenship.org) makes
clear, not every issue is of equal moral gravity. The
inalienable right to life of every innocent human
person outweighs other concerns where Catholics
may use prudential judgment, such as how best to
meet the needs of the poor or to increase access to
health care for all.
The right to life is the right through which all
others flow. To the extent candidates reject this
fundamental right by supporting an objective evil,
such as legal abortion, euthanasia or embryonic
stem cell research, Catholics should consider
them less acceptable for public office. As Faithful

Citizenship teaches, “Those who knowingly,
willingly, and directly support public policies or
legislation that undermine fundamental moral
principles cooperate with evil.”
These are complex times, so our task is not
light. Educating ourselves for the presidential
election is somewhat easier than doing so for the
congressional or state legislative races, mainly
because the candidates’ positions are generally
better known. The presidential candidates of both
major parties have legislative voting records which
often provide valuable insight. In addition, their
campaign Web sites, debates and news coverage
regularly highlight the differences of the two on
the issues.
I
t is often more difficult to get as good a grasp
on the positions of incumbent congressional
representatives and state legislators, not to
mention their challengers. (How many of us
cannot even name our state Senator or Assembly
Member, let alone their electoral opponents?)
News accounts of positions are harder to come by,
and voting records on important issues are often
lacking. So the task of doing due diligence can
be truly challenging. Yet our state is facing many
critical issues which are of vital concern to faithful
Catholics, and it is absolutely necessary for good
citizens to pay attention to these races and to vote
accordingly for the better candidates. You can find
all of the candidates for elected office at the New
York State Catholic Conference Web site (www.
nyscatholic.org).
Many of the most compelling moral issues of
the day play out at the state level. Commonsense
restrictions on abortion, whether or not to employ
the death penalty, issues related to same-sex
“marriage” and civil unions, parental rights in
education, programs to serve the poor, access to
health insurance – all of these debates occur in
the halls of our state Capitol in Albany. Your vote
for State Senator and Assembly Member may be
as critical as your vote for President of the United
States.
We set forth below potential questions for
candidates on a variety of critical issues, and we

urge you to learn where all the candidates for
every office stand with regard to them. This
list is by no means exhaustive, but our hope is
that it serves as a valuable tool in forming your
consciences as you make your decisions in the
voting booth as Catholic faithful citizens.
While we as Church officials cannot and do
not endorse candidates for office, we encourage
you to properly form your conscience by reflecting
on the moral and social teachings of our Church
and we strongly urge you to vote on November 4.
For when we vote, we are exercising our cherished
right and our solemn duty as Americans and as
Catholics.

Important Questions
for Political Candidates
The Right to Life
Do you agree with the need to overturn the
U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade,
which struck down all state laws criminalizing
abortion and established a woman’s “right” to
abort her unborn child in the womb?
Do you oppose the state’s “Reproductive
Health & Privacy Protection Act” or the federal
“Freedom of Choice Act” which both go beyond
Roe v. Wade, guaranteeing a fundamental right to
abortion with no restrictions or regulations?
Do you support a ban on physician-assisted
suicide?
Do you oppose government funding for human
embryonic stem cell research?
Do you oppose the death penalty?
Parental Rights in Education
Do you support the right of all parents –
especially poor parents – to be provided with the
means (such as education tax credits) to choose the
most appropriate school for their child, including a
religious or independent school?

Do you support restoring full state reimburse-
ment on mandates in religious and independent

schools?

Protecting Marriage
Do you support maintaining the historic
understanding of marriage as between a man and a
woman?
Immigration Reform
Do you support immigration reform that
regularizes the situation for undocumented
immigrants already in this country?
Do you oppose punishing charitable
organizations which provide social services to
undocumented persons?
Access to Health Care
Do you support legislative action to provide
universal access to health care?
Protecting the Poor
Do you support an increase in New York
State’s public assistance grant, which has not been
raised since 1990?

Do you support an increase in the Earned
Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit,
available as refunds to families with the greatest
need?
Religious Liberty
Do you support the right of faith-based health
and human service providers to offer services
to the community in accord with their religious
beliefs?

To download copies of this statement, please
visit www.nyscatholic.org. While there, please join
the Catholic Advocacy Network by clicking the Join
the Network button on the homepage. Network
members receive regular electronic action alerts and

information regarding important public policy mat-
ters of concern to the Church in New York State. By

clicking on the Election Guide icon on the Catholic

Conference home page, you can find your candi-
dates for elective office.

Copyright 2008 NYS Catholic Conference

New York State Catholic Conference 465 State Street · Albany, NY  12203-1004 Phone (518) 434-6195 · Fax (518) 434-9796 www.nyscatholic.org e-mail:  Statement of the New York State Bishops On Pending Abortion Legislation Monday, March 10, 2008 This year marks the 35th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Roe v Wade, which legalized abortion in all […]

“Internet Safety: Protecting God’s Children” sponsored by
Diocese of Rochester
Issue Date: Sept. 20, 2007
Interpol police expert to address parents on Internet exploitation of children, ways to keep kids
safe
Robert H. Farley, consultant to Interpol, will offer three free sessions for parents on Internet child
sexual exploitation on the Internet in Rochester, Horseheads and in Geneva.
Kids have unparalleled access to technology and parents are left in the dust, often unknowing and
unaware. Come and learn how parents and guardians can protect their children from internet
predators.
Farley will offer the latest safety advice for parents and address crucial topics, such as:
· Best location for a computer in the home
· The type of screen name a child should use
· What “P911,” “BAK” and CUOL means – and other Internet shorthand used on the web and with
cell phones.
· Privacy settings and other technology to make web-surfing safer
BECAUSE OF THE SUBJECT MATTER, NO ONE UNDER 18 WILL BE ADMITTED.
All sessions are free and public.
Metro Rochester Area:
Oct. 2 10:30 a.m.-noon, RIT Conference Center, 5257 W. Henrietta Road. (or)
Oct. 4 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Siena Catholic Academy, 2617 East Ave., Brighton.
—————————————–
Finger Lakes Area:
Oct. 3: 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Holiday Inn, Rt. 414, Waterloo (or)
Oct. 4: 9:30-11 a.m., same location.
——————————————
Southern Tier:
Oct. 2: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., Holiday Inn Express, 2666 Corning Road, Horseheads (or)
Oct. 3: 9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m., same location.