Sioux Falls, S.D., Oct 24, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Bishop Robert Carlson of Sioux Falls says he is not telling Catholics who to vote for, but it is his duty to “correctly inform” the conscience of Catholic voters by preaching about Church teaching.
It's a Catholic's responsibility to know Church teaching, the bishop said in the latest edition of the Bishop’s Bulletin, published less than two weeks before the Nov. 2 presidential elections.
Regarding whether a Catholic politician, who is publicly opposed to Church teaching on a moral issue, should be allowed to receive Communion, Bishop Carlson said: "It's up to the bishop to tell the official they are not in union with what the Church teaches. If the average person comes to the Communion rail, I don't know what is in his or her heart."
Bishop Carlson did not say whether voting for an pro-abortion candidate is a mortal sin. But he quoted Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger who said that "Catholics would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present themselves for Holy Communion, if they were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate's permissive stance on abortion or euthanasia.”
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