"At all times and in all places, the Church should have the true freedom to teach the faith, to proclaim its teaching about society, to carry out its task among men without hindrance, and to pass moral judgment even in matters relating to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it"

(Second Vatican Council: Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, n. 76).

"Within the whole network of issues about life, the first priority has to be the right of each individual at every stage simply to exist at all, to be inviolable, to be free from direct attacks. So the church has said that issues that involve direct attacks on innocent human life are primary."

"I consider the right to vote as essential in a democracy. If people neglect that basic right, it borders on the sinful, because we have to take part in our democratic process. If we are fortunate enough to have it we have to take part in it."

" Voting is a right and as well as a duty but it is also essential to be informed and to vote as your heart and your conscience tell you. A mentality of "anything goes" or "what ever I want to do is my right" is not a correct mentality and government has the obligation to help people understand rights and responsibilities. A Catholic or anyone with a well formed conscience, a well formed understanding of right and wrong; good and evil can never vote for a political program or law "which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals".

"Every man has the obligation to vote, because by voting he can determine who will be tomorrow's law-maker, who will make tomorrow's laws either to be unjust and perverse, or to promote human values. Any law which permits one to act against the untouchable, intangible good of the human person --- such as a law favoring abortion -- is an unjust and perverse law. God asks – God Himself asks --that every man, every Christian, make his contribution by voting."

"The destruction of a human being at the very beginning of his or her life, is the destruction of an innocent person. It is the interruption of a life which has as much value as does each one of our lives. Without respect for life, without respect for the family, society simply does not exist."

Bishop Elio Sgreccia, Vice-President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Vatican City

Bulletin Inserts on Political Responsibility