WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A diverse group of
 prominent lay Catholics -- including 11 former U.S. ambassadors and former
 chairmen of the Republican and Democratic National Committees -- have
 called for a more civil tone to replace the divisive rhetoric and partisan
 attacks that define our national political debates.
 
     The leaders in law, politics and religion released the statement, A
 Catholic Call to Observe Civility in Political Debate, at a news conference
 at the National Press Club today. Ambassador Thomas P. Melady, the former
 U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and Timothy J. May, a Senior Partner with
 Patton Boggs LLP and Trustee Emeritus with the Catholic University of
 America, co-organized the statement.
 
     "Civility should be a guiding principle in our public life," the
 statement says. "Civility and its potential impact on the fabric of the
 Catholic Church should be of concern to all faithful Catholics, both clergy
 and lay people."
 
     "The statement directly addresses controversies over Catholic
 politicians whose positions on various polarizing issues conflict or give
 the appearance of conflicting with Church teachings," said Ambassador
 Thomas P. Melady. "Some voices have been shrill. The language at times has
 been offensive. The level of dialogue and conversation in too many
 instances has not met the standards that one expects in a country trying to
 establish worldwide standards for all democracies."
 
     It cautions Catholic politicians whose positions contradict Catholic
 teachings. "Catholic politicians who advertise their Catholicism as part of
 their political appeal, but ignore the Church's moral teachings in their
 political life confuse non-Catholics by giving the appearance of
 hypocrisy," it says. The statement urges lay Catholics to "avoid public
 statements that undermine the authority of the Church's leaders."
 
     "As lay Catholics we should not exhort the Church to condemn our
 political opponents by publicly denying them Holy Communion based on pubic
 dissent from Church teachings," the statement reads. "An individual's
 fitness to receive communion is his or her personal responsibility. It is a
 bishop's responsibility to set for his diocese the guidelines for
 administering communion." The document goes on to say that bishops and all
 involved in church leadership "should not permit the Church to be used, or
 appear to be used, as a partisan political tool."
 
     For a copy of the statement and list of signers, click on
     HYPERLINK
 "http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/cacg/media-center/prominent-catholics-c
 all-for-civility-in-politics.html"
 http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/cacg/media-center/prominent-catholics-ca
 ll-for-civility-in-politics.html
 
 
 
 

SOURCE Catholic Civility Project