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.....There is a great need in our society for informed Americans who also base their
vision of political life on a sense of moral values and justice. With so many competing voices, the loudest voice often can
be the only one that is heard and heeded. The loudest voice may not always be the most intelligent one or the one that advocates
most clearly and with confidence a commitment to justice and to the common good. We Catholics have a particular obligation.
Catholic social teaching tells us that the state is good and it exists for the good of every citizen and for the common good
of society. Those who commit themselves to political life should see it as a noble vocation and act accordingly. The rest
of us need to support those positions that accord with justice and that advance the good of every person and the common good
of our society.
A few years ago, the bishops of New York State began what we call the “Catholic Advocacy Network.”
Under the sponsorship of the New York State Catholic Conference whose headquarters are in the state capital at Albany, this
network is open to the 7.5 million Catholics in New York, a significant and potentially influential portion of the state population.
Many thousands of Catholics across our state have already signed on to the Catholic Advocacy Network. Any Catholic who wishes
may sign up by logging on to www.nyscatholic.org or by sending your name, address and e-mail address to the Catholic Advocacy
Network, 465 State St., Albany NY 12203-1004. You will receive from the Conference information about bills appearing in Albany
that have a special impact on the life of the Church and our society. This will keep you informed and allow you to register
your opinion on vital issues of the day. You then can influence our legislators for the good of all.
An important example
of this is the child tax credit law, providing tax relief for parents of school-age children — including those in religious
schools — that was passed last year by the Assembly and the Senate and signed into law by then-Gov. Pataki. For many
years the Catholic Church, joined by many friends in the Jewish community, had been advocating that parents should receive
a tax credit as a way of offsetting the cost of sending their children to religious schools. This was opposed for a variety
of reasons, most of them having to do with the lobbying of the New York State Federation of Teachers. Some continued even
to use the baseless old argument that somehow or another this violated the separation of Church and state. It does not. The
fact is that the cost in education has grown incrementally through the years. Religiously based schools offer a kind of education
that is truly American and truly valuable, giving to the child the possibility of learning in an environment that enhances
his or her own faith. In the last gubernatorial election, both candidates supported the notion of an education tax credit.
Thanks in no small measure to the Catholic Advocacy Network, Gov. Pataki did make a proposal that was signed into law. While
it is not all that we had asked for, it is a beginning of what we hope ultimately will be a very widespread education tax
credit that will help parents be able to make the choice to send their children to a religiously based school, be they Catholic,
Jewish or other.
This is one example of how the Catholic Advocacy Network served to help convince legislators and
the governor of the positive value of this kind of legislation. Without the voice of the people, this kind of legislation
would never command the attention that it did in Albany. With the voice of the people, this can become a reality.
Personally
I do not believe there is such a thing as “the Catholic vote.” I do not think Catholics ever have voted en bloc
in any election. However, we do have a specific obligation that the truths of our faith and the moral principles by which
we live influence us in the choices that we make regarding candidates as well as what legislation and social and political
positions we support. Our vision of the human person, created in the image of God and with human rights that are inherent
by virtue of being human, is the basis of our entry into the political debate. We must stand up in favor of all those things
that advance human dignity and oppose those that interfere with or denigrate the dignity of the human person and the true
good of society. In basic issues, this is comparatively easy. For example, we say, as we must, that abortion is always wrong
and that any legislation that favors abortion is unjust legislation. Still, many other issues surrounding the beginning of
life and the end of life are tremendously complicated moral issues that cry out for our input and for a position that reflects
the moral principles that we hold dear. We must always seek justice for all. We must see to it that the powerful forces of
our country do not overwhelm the weak and the marginalized, the poor and the vulnerable. Oftentimes, the poor are not only
those who are materially poor; the poor also include those whose voices cannot be heard, those institutions which are demonized
by the cultural elites, those who have become victims with no one to speak for them.
The Catholic Advocacy Network
is a powerful tool by which you and I will be able to make our voices heard on matters of importance for the whole community.
In the very near future, I am going to ask that all the pastors of the diocese have a Catholic Advocacy Network sign-up weekend.
That weekend will provide those who wish to join the Catholic Advocacy Network the opportunity to sign up and give us their
e-mails so that we might be able to expand our network and increase our ability to have our voices heard in Albany.
As
I write this, I have before my eyes so many memories of Pope John Paul II. His outstanding witness around the world in favor
of human rights, his constant teaching of the truth about the human person, his fearless opposition to the forces of darkness
and sin and death, his clarion call for us to assume our responsibility, all make up a part of our heritage as Catholics.
It is up to us now to hear that call, to respond to that invitation and to make our voices heard for the good of every human
being, especially the poor and the vulnerable, and for the good of our society both now and in the future.
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