Are ecclesiastical leaders turning their churches into voting blocks and political ward offices? If so, they may be endangering their religious tax exemption...

here is evidence of a growing effort by Roman Catholic authorities to "politicize" their followers, and mobilize congregants on a number of social issues. While church authorities have long been vocal on questions such as abortion or aid to parochial schools, the new trend is to educate parishioners on a wider range of issues, and candidates who agree with the church's ideological position. Not surprisingly, state-church separation activists, along with groups usually at odds with the official church position on social issues, are concerned.

   ¶    In Philadelphia, Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua has announced plans for the distribution of special archdiocese voters guides for the upcoming city council and mayoral elections. The guides will reportedly rate political candidates on their positions on issues such abortion rights, aid to religious schools and welfare reform.

   Bevilacqua is no stranger to political activism, but the boldness of the plan -- one which some observers say mimics the Christian Coalition strategy of distributing biased voter guides in fundamentalist and evangelical churches -- is an escalation in the Philadelphia archdiocese's drive for more political clout. In November, 1998, while attending the semiannual meeting in Washington of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bevilacqua affirmed the church policy of imposing sanctions on Roman Catholics who espouse beliefs contrary to church teachings. But the new tough stand on political advocacy was described by a Philadelphia Inquirer writer as "heralding a new era in Catholic activism, since it was the first time in two decades that the bishops as a group have sought to pressure politicians over social issues that divide many Catholics."

   The Philadelphia Archdiocese has been one of the most aggressive in mobilizing the faithful to pressure for voucher legislation, and fight liberalization of abortion. Two years ago, for instance, the archdiocese organized an aggressive campaign of letter writing to state officials in support of aid-to-religious-schools bills, and even bused parishioners to voucher rallies and demonstrations.

   ¶    Detroit Catholic Cardinal Adam Maida has again spoken up on behalf of activism by churches. In a story appearing in the March 16, 1999 edition, the Detroit News noted that, "In boxing terms, the prelate came out swinging, making no apology for input by people of faith."

   Maida had already led a multimillion dollar campaign in Michigan to help defeat a right-to-die initiative in the November,1998 election.

   In a speech to 200 judges and attorneys at the (Catholic) University of Detroit Law School, Maida declared: "Human laws are a reflection of the predominant culture... Religion is part of that culture and so law necessarily and inevitably reflects religious values in one way or another..."

   One supporter of Maida told the News, "In our efforts to make church and state separate, we sometimes force them into the position of being adversaries. That's wrong. Church and state can be allies..."

   But for Maida, only certain Catholic views are to be tolerated. Prior to his speech at the University of Detroit, Maida announced that the Catholic social justice group known as Pax Christi would be barred from holding its annual state conference in any official Catholic facility. The April meeting has the theme, "Voices of Hope: Lesbians and Gays in the Church. A spokesperson for the Pax Christi group told Between The Lines, an alternative weekly Detroit paper, "The church has a history of not recognizing the equality of women and people with differing sexual orientations ... the Church is unwilling to recognize the fullness of diversity among its members..."

   ¶    Another issue which could arise involves the network of Roman Catholic law schools across the nation. As reported last week in AANEWS, former Domino's Pizza exec Tom Monaghan was bankrolling the Ave Maria School of Law to the tune of $50 million. Two-dozen law schools across the nation are already affiliated with the Church. According to a report in Friday's USA TODAY, "Under pressure from the Vatican, Catholic law schools have already been working in recent years to coordinate their coursework more closely with Catholic doctrine..." Monaghan called his privately-funded legal mill, "the West Point for Catholic laity in the years to come."

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