Bishops Promote Political Responsibility With Online Resources

WASHINGTON—Blog posts, YouTubevideos, an online quiz and resources on Facebook are among the ways U.S.Catholics can learn about the Church’s teaching on issues and involvement inthe political process, as part of an initiative of the U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops (USCCB). These resources promote the document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,the call to political responsibility issued by the U.S. bishops in 2007 andreissued last fall.

“Christians have a responsibility tolive out their faith in the public square, and today that also means online,”said Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee onCommunications. “People donate, speak out on numerous issues, get their newsand participate in campaigns through the Internet and social media. The Churchalso needs to reach people through these media.”

Resources include:

·An issues quiz, which will help Catholics formtheir consciences through statistics and facts related to key moral issuesincluding abortion, poverty, embryonic stem cell research and immigration. Onequiz question will be posted every Tuesday and Thursday starting April 24 at www.facebook.com/usccb.

·Video reflections by bishops, includingArchbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami andArchbishop-designate William Lori of Baltimore, discussing different issues ofimportance for Catholic voters: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/videos-for-faithful-citizenship.cfm.

·A “Catholics Care. Catholics Vote.” blog series,which explores different aspects of the bishops’ document, including itsassertion that political involvement is a moral duty for Catholics, thequestions of conscience formation and a range of issues highlighted by thebishops ahead of the 2012 Elections: https://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/catholics-care-catholic-vote-series.html.

·A tab on USCCB’s page on Facebook called “CatholicsCare. Catholics Vote.” This web portal aggregates all of these resources at www.facebook.com/usccb/app_189116767802011.

---