Catholics at the Ballot Box

Voting involves moral choices. That's true for Democrats, Republicans and independents alike, for the primary elections now capturing our attention and for the general election coming in November.

But the issues are complex. No one candidate or political party has a monopoly on moral positions, as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops declared last year in its statement, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship."

Despite the media's tendency to focus almost exclusively on the Catholic position toward abortion or gay marriage, the bishops take a wider view of a voter's duty. They recognize that morality is not an either/or situation.

The sooner that liberals and conservatives within the church accept this complexity and find a way to talk about the issues, the better off the Catholic Church will be. And, for that matter, the country.

Look at the bishops' statement: Many of its 90 numbered paragraphs deal with social issues, and a liberal would say "right on" to as many paragraphs as would a conservative.

The statement lays out 10 goals of a moral public policy. As might be expected, the first three focus on abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage.

But the other goals address such issues as immigration reform; access to education; decent work at a living wage; health care for those without it; prejudice, bigotry and other forms of discrimination; poverty, at home and abroad; and peace, human rights and religious freedom.