Virginia Bishops: Church Teaching and Civic Responsibility

...Explaining these teachings clearly is among the most fundamental of our responsibilities as bishops. This year, our teaching on public-policy matters has included pastoral letters, issued jointly by us to the faithful in our two dioceses, on stem-cell research and on the institution of marriage.

...We are convinced that a consistent ethic of life should be the moral framework from which to address issues in the political arena...

We must never abandon this moral framework in favor of divisive rhetoric that can cloud one’s ability to see each issue as Christ asks us to see it. But just as it would be wrong to reject a consistent ethic that values all human rights, it would also be a mistake to conclude that all issues are equal in moral gravity...

...we must understand the difference in moral gravity between policies which are intrinsically unjust (e.g., abortion, euthanasia, and the deliberate destruction of human embryos) and policies involving prudential judgments about which people of good will may disagree concerning various means of promoting economic justice, public safety, and fair opportunities for every person.

We reaffirm these observations from our previous letter and will continue to teach two basic truths -- that, no matter what the issue is, human dignity must be the central consideration; and that, above all else, our laws must honor the right to life, without which no other right could even exist.

Full text of the Bishops' letter is here.