More bishops speak out on Catholics and voting

America, October, 2004

Continuing the debate that began last spring, bishops in various parts of the United States weighed in with advice for Catholics on how they should decide for whom to vote in November. Writing on Sept. 17 in The Wall Street Journal, Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark, N.J., said a candidate's stand in favor of abortion cannot be outweighed by any other issue. "Certainly policies on welfare, national security, the war in Iraq, Social Security or taxes, taken singly or in any combination, do not provide a proportionate reason to vote for a pro-abortion candidate."

In Atlanta, Archbishop John F. Donoghue said a vote intended to "restrict insofar as possible the evil that another candidate might do if elected" could have "a good purpose." Earlier, he had issued a joint...