Cardinal Dolan issued a clarion call for Catholics to speak up on political matters, saying "We are called to be very active, very informed, and very involved in politics."I think he's absolutely right. I also think he might want to be a little cautious about what he asks for here. Catholics are in favor of lots of what Dolan opposes--especially considering his current hot-button issues of the contraception mandate and same-sex marriage. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found 63% of Catholics in favor of the mandate, and growing majorities favor same-sex marriage, and overwhelmingly support same-sex civil unions. He is incorrect on one important point, however, and might want to study up a bit. "I don't recall a right to marriage," he said. I would point him to Pope Paul VI's Populorum Progressio, 37, viz.:

When the inalienable right of marriage and of procreation is taken away, so is human dignity.

I think most Catholics stand with the late Pope on that one.HT: R. Lyman

Lisa Fullam is professor of moral theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. She is the author of The Virtue of Humility: A Thomistic Apologetic (Edwin Mellen Press).

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