As the country approaches election day in two weeks, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia is encouraging Catholic voters to place their faith above their allegiance to political parties. “I’m always encouraging our people minimally to vote, maximally to run for political office, and make sure that they’re Catholic prior to being Democrat or Republican and that they put that into practice politically,” he said. Archbishop Chaput echoed the calls of other American bishops to have their flocks consider their faith in the voting booth. “We do believe in the separation of church and state, but we don’t believe in the separation of faith from our political life,” he said. “It’s very important for Catholics to make distinctions when voting that they never support intrinsic evils like abortion, which is evil in all circumstances. That’s a lot different from different economic policies” that people can reasonably disagree on, the archbishop explained. His remarks come as an October 22 Gallup poll shows the “economy in general” is the issue rated most important by Americans as the election nears. “But people who are practicing Catholics cannot have alternate views on abortion,” he stated. “Such foundational issues have a huge impact and it’s important that Catholics make those distinctions. A person (candidate) might be right on a lot of secondary issues but wrong on the foundational issues. And if that’s the case, it would be very difficult for a Catholic to vote for someone who, for example, favors unlimited access to abortion … undermines the meaning of marriage or supports policies that really undermine the foundation of our culture.” Archbishop Chaput sees Philadelphia as a great example of both Catholic and civic virtue. He noted that it both produced two canonized saints, John Neumann and Katherine Drexel, and was the location of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the writing of the U.S. Constitution. “I’m standing on the shoulders both in terms of the Church and the civic community,” the archbishop pointed out. “We have to produce new saints and be really good citizens.” He also connected patriotism with love of parents and family, saying that “loving our country is really participating in love of our families.” And “the meaning of family,” he asserted, is “hugely important for the future health of our country. Having mothers and fathers who love us and love one another provides security for the healthy growth of children. Confused family life leads to confused participation in the broader life of the community.” The Catholic vote has tended to follow the rest of the electorate in recent years, but with the current campaign for president running neck-and-neck, Gov. Romney and President Obama are vying for every segment of voters they can. The latest polling from Gallup suggests that Romney has 51 percent of the Catholic vote while Obama has 49 percent. In the 2008 election, 53 percent of Catholic voters supported Obama, and 47 percent supported GOP candidate John McCain. Archbishop Chaput noted that “Catholics who go to church vote quite differently than Catholics as a group, and that Catholics who take their faith seriously, for them it’s much more than a cultural affiliation – it’s a very personal affiliation with Jesus Christ and his community.”

The world's huge technological and scientific progress hasn't always made people freer or happier, Pope Benedict XVI said. While scientific knowledge and advancements "are important for human life, it's not enough on its own," the pope said at his weekly general audience. "We need not just material sustenance, we need love, meaning, hope and a solid foundation" that helps people live with courage even in the face of doubt, difficulties, and everyday problems, he said. Pope Benedict continued a new series of catecheses to accompany the Year of Faith, which runs until November 24, 2013. His talk focused on the nature of faith and what it means to believe. The pope said, "Despite the great magnitude of scientific discoveries and technological successes, humanity today does not seem to have become truly freer and more human." Along with signs of progress and increased well-being, there also are "many forms of exploitation, manipulation, violence, tyranny and injustice." Faith gives people a solid sense of certainty in uncertain times because "faith is believing in this love of God that never fails in the face of human wickedness, evil and death, but is capable of transforming every form of slavery, offering the possibility of salvation," he said. "Faith is not the simple intellectual approval by man of truths concerning God; it is an act in which I freely entrust myself to a God who is Father and loves me," the Pope said. In fact, having faith is above all about having a relationship with a God whose love is "indestructible" and who understands people's problems, he said.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the start of a special Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI called on Catholics to revive the “authentic spirit” of Vatican II by re-proposing the church’s ancient teachings to an increasingly Godless modern world. Vatican II, Pope Benedict said, had been “animated by a desire...to immerse itself anew in the Christian mystery so as to re-propose it fruitfully to contemporary man.” He noted that Blessed John XXIII, in his speech at the opening of the council, called for both the safeguarding and the effective teaching of the “sacred deposit of Christian doctrine...this certain and immutable doctrine, which is to be faithfully respected, [and] needs to be explored and presented in a way which responds to the needs our time.” Calling for a revival in the church of the “yearning to announce Christ again to contemporary man,” the pope stressed that any new evangelization “needs to be built on a concrete and precise basis, and this basis is the documents of the Second Vatican Council.” He reaffirmed past statements rejecting expansive notions of a “spirit of Vatican II” that might be used to justify innovations diverging from traditional doctrine. “I have often insisted on the need to return, as it were, to the ‘letter’ of the council—that is to its texts—also to draw from them its authentic spirit,” the pope said. “The true legacy of the council is to be found in them. But I am convinced that the insight Blessed John XXIII epitomized with this word was and still is accurate,” he said. “Christianity must never be seen as something from the past, nor lived with one’s gaze always looking back because Jesus is yesterday, today and for all eternity,” Pope Benedict said. “This ‘renewal’ does not mean a break with tradition; rather it expresses a lasting vitality.”

The teachings of the Catholic Church are coming alive for West Virginia's young Catholics through a new initiative aimed at reaching them right where they "live" -- the Internet. In association with Outside da Box, the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has launched "Video Catechism for Teens" -- a free online resource for youths and young adults. The site became available October 11 to coincide with the start of the Year of Faith, instituted by Pope Benedict XVI. The yearlong program of worship, catechesis and evangelization runs to November 24, 2013. To reach the young people of the church, the diocese looked at their social experience. Findings through a recent study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that teenagers consume about 10 hours and 45 minutes of media content every day -- four hours and 29 minutes of that time is spent watching videos on the Internet or TV. "We can easily remember a time in our lives when Facebook and YouTube didn't exist -- kids don't remember that," said Bob Perron, executive director of the diocese's Department of Youth Ministry. "We wanted to do something where we could help our kids become better catechized, but we knew we had to do it in a different, new kind of format." That format offers young people a four-minute video each month on the site that provides a dramatization of teachings from the "Catechism of the Catholic Church," presented in a way that is relevant to them and will help them understand how they may apply the teachings in their own lives. The dramatizations illustrate experiences and issues that young people face in their own lives and how they can find God in today's culture. The mission of Outside da Box, as described on its website, is "creating short films to help teens know, love and serve Jesus Christ."

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a statement rebutting Vice President Joseph Biden’s claim that Catholic institutions will not be required to subsidize contraception under the new federal health-care mandate. Without mentioning Biden by name, the USCCB statement quoted a remark that the Vice President made in his October 11 debate with Republican challenger Paul Ryan: With regard to the assault on the Catholic Church, let me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact. “This is not a fact,” the USCCB statement insisted. The bishops’ statement continued: The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain "religious employers." That exemption was made final in February and does not extend to "Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital," or any other religious charity that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served. HHS has proposed an additional "accommodation" for religious organizations like these, which HHS itself describes as "non-exempt." That proposal does not even potentially relieve these organizations from the obligation "to pay for contraception" and "to be a vehicle to get contraception." They will have to serve as a vehicle, because they will still be forced to provide their employees with health coverage, and that coverage will still have to include sterilization, contraception, and abortifacients. They will have to pay for these things, because the premiums that the organizations (and their employees) are required to pay will still be applied, along with other funds, to cover the cost of these drugs and surgeries.

The need to defend religious liberty, a key issue this year for the U.S. Catholic bishops and other religious leaders, will now have a new venue for discussion and action in a handful of state legislatures. Leaders from nine states -- Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Tennessee -- announced October 9 that they would be part of a new group of state religious freedom caucuses to develop state policies to protect religious liberties. The initiative was spearheaded by the American Religious Freedom Program, which is part of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington think tank. Tim Schultz, the program's state legislative policy director, said in a teleconference that there has been a "renewed interest in religious freedom" in the United States. He said the discussion of religious freedom should extend beyond the courts to determine proper boundaries of religious freedom and give a place in each state where people of faith can voice their concerns. State Rep. Steve Precourt, R-Fla., told teleconference participants that religious freedom caucuses "can work to ensure that the courts are not the only recourse" for those who feel their religious rights are being challenged. He also noted that the issue of religious liberty is not a new one but "a movement that has been brewing for some time." In Florida, the issue is on the November ballot. Voters will be asked to decide on a constitutional amendment to prohibit discrimination against individuals and institutions on the basis of religious beliefs and on the issue of removing a long-standing ban on public funding "in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution." And this is what it has come to in the United States. With the continual assault on religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular, the prayer warriors are fighting back. Since Louisiana is not mentioned in the list, perhaps it is time for us to contact our legislators and join the cause.

In a survey of Catholics age 14 and older, about 12 percent of males and 10 percent of females said they considered a religious vocation at least "a little seriously," a study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University found. The findings, released October 9, give church leaders a vast array of data on which to base positive messages about religious life for teenagers and young adults, said Father Shawn McKnight, executive director of the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which commissioned the survey. "When you consider 12 percent of all male youth and 10 percent of all women ... just a very small percentage (committing to a vocation) would make a tremendous difference," said Father McKnight. "The survey offers solid evidence, credible evidence to base our judgments on how to promote vocations," he added. Broken down, 3 percent of male respondents and 2 percent of female respondents indicate they have "very seriously" considered a vocation, according to the study, "Consideration of Priesthood and Religious Life Among Never-Married U.S. Catholics." It was commissioned by the USCCB secretariat. Projected over the Catholic population of the United States, those figures represent 350,000 never-married men and more than 250,000 never-married women who may have very seriously considered a vocation, concluded CARA researchers Mark Gray and Mary Gautier, who conducted the study.

Here is a refreshing take on the definition of marriage issue. The National Football League Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk has written an opinion piece that appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune supporting free speech and marriage between one man and one woman. He writes, "Same-sex unions may not affect my marriage specifically, but it will affect my children -- the next generation. Ideas have consequences, and laws shape culture. Marriage redefinition will affect the broader well-being of children and the welfare of society. As a Christian and a citizen, I am compelled to care about both. I am speaking out on this issue because it is far too important to remain silent. People who are simply acknowledging the basic reality of marriage between one man and one woman are being labeled as "bigots" and "homophobic." Aren't we past that as a society? Don't we all have family members and friends whom we love who have same-sex attraction? Attempting to silence those who may disagree with you is always un-American, but especially when it is through name-calling, it has no place in respectful conversation. A defense of marriage is not meant as an offense to any person or group. All people should be afforded their inalienable American freedoms. There is no opposition between providing basic human rights to everyone and preserving marriage as the sacred union of one man and one woman. I hope that in voicing my beliefs I encourage people on both sides to use reason and charity as they enter this debate. I encourage all Americans to stand up to preserve and promote a healthy, authentic pro-marriage culture in this upcoming election." Very well put. Being attacked for your religious beliefs is nothing new. The Old Testament reading at Mass for the September 22-23 weekend was from the second chapter of Wisdom. It says, "The wicked say: Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. With revilement and torture let us put the just one to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him." When the attacks come on Matt Birk, our God will protect him.