My husband recently found an anonymous note on our front gate challenging the “Catholics for Obama” sign in our window.  The challenge is based on Obama’s being pro-choice.

 I have never before worn a T-shirt or a button in support of any presidential candidate.  Thus I have thought long and hard and researched the position of my church on voting according to a well formed conscience. The Catholic Bishops of the United States say that the three principles upon which to judge a candidate are sanctity of life, the common good and care for the poor and vulnerable.

In “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” the bishops say:  “A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s intent is to support that position. … At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity. There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position may decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons.”

For me, other morally grave reasons include immigration, the environment, poverty, health care, homelessness, war, the death penalty and social welfare programs that protect the most vulnerable, especially the elderly and single women trying to raise children.

 The US Catholic Bishops’ statement is available at:  www.faithfulcitizenship.org/ church/statements.

Lois Harr

Bedford Park