Bishops receive report from task force on bishops, politicians

Published: 2004-11-17

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops will develop a "Reader on Catholics in Public Life" and two of their committees will take up the matter of church teaching on when it is proper for Catholic politicians, and all Catholics, to receive Communion. The prominent attention to that area of Catholic teaching in this year's presidential election campaign was addressed by the U.S. bishops in a three-page written report issued Nov. 17 without comment or discussion. The reader and committee consideration were two of the steps the task force set out as ways of engaging all Catholics and those in public life. With the nomination of Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, a Catholic who supports legal abortion, one of the presidential campaign's underlying themes this year became whether Catholics would be sinning by voting for Kerry or other candidates in similar situations. The task force report reflected on the "challenges and controversy" for the church that "generated more discussion than perhaps ever before about what it means to be a Catholic and a citizen of the United States."

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