For Catholics, this upcoming election is crucial. Our religious freedom is being attacked. Some candidates believe that our deep-seated religious beliefs have to be changed. They call us archaic! 

Some would attempt to criminalize our beliefs and values into mandatory government policies. We’ve already seen evidence of this. I don’t want the government to tell me what religious beliefs are tolerable or not. The Catholic Church teaches me what to believe. 

As Catholics, we have been duped into believing that certain moral issues are really political issues. This has resulted in the successful shutdown of any kind of moral outcry. Abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research and same-sex marriage are non-negotiable for any Catholic. They are outright forbidden by Church teaching and no Catholic may agree with or support them. This goes for every Catholic from the highest official to us sitting in the pews on Sundays. 

We are taught that what the Church teaches precedes politics, party loyalties and leanings. We must develop well informed consciences for making moral choices. We must consider the moral and ethical dimensions of public policy issues.  The preeminent one is the protection of human life.  Keep in mind, since the 1973 Supreme Court decision on Roe vs. Wade, over 60 million babies have been aborted in our country. God forgive us for these killings! 

In voting, each one of us has to make up our own minds, however we should do it with a conscience that is well formed and with an understanding of our church’s teachings as they apply to candidates and issues. We must vote with a Catholic moral vision that can start the process of returning our nation back to a culture of life and not the culture of death that it is currently steeped in.

—John Ucovich, Hollister