Boston, Mass., Jun 20, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican launched a voter-education campaign Saturday, backed by Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley, reported the Boston Globe. The objective of the nonpartisan campaign is to mobilize Catholic voters for the fall election.
"It has absolutely nothing to do with liberal or conservative, Democratic or Republican. It's about being Catholic," Raymond L. Flynn told about 100 people, gathered in the parish hall of St. John the Evangelist church in Canton. Flynn said Catholics “want their voices heard” in civic life in the United States, reported the Globe.
The former mayor of Boston was named by the Massachusetts Catholic Conference last week to lead the voter-education campaign. He is scheduled to travel to parishes across the state in the coming weeks.
Catholics are not as active in politics as they used to be. “As a result of that, we are allowing other people to make decisions about our values and our beliefs,” he was quoted as saying.
Catholics, he added, have a responsibility to register fellow parishioners to vote, educate friends about the issues, and inundate politicians and media with letters and phone calls.