MADISON — The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC), the public policy voice of Wisconsin’s bishops, is distributing a series of resources to help Catholics reflect on their duties as faithful citizens.
The series is designed for parish bulletins, but it can also be reproduced on a parish website or as a series of posters.
John Huebscher, executive director of the WCC, explained that the bishops are “modeling the Catholic duty to engage in public life in an informed, consistent, and respectful manner.”
The bishops invite Catholics to read the U.S. bishops’ 2011 statement, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility (www.faith fulcitizenship.org), upon which this WCC series is based.
The WCC series also draws on the writings of Pope Francis, who has affirmed the Church’s role in public policy debates: “An authentic faith — which is never comfortable or completely personal — always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.”
The series concludes with questions that Catholics can pose to candidates and guidelines that clarify what Church activities and efforts are appropriate during a political campaign.
Copies of all these voter education materials are available at www.wisconsincatholic.org The Catholic Herald will also be publishing many of these materials starting in this week’s paper.