U.S. bishops said to withdraw presidential questionnaire

Washington D.C., Sep 8, 2004 / 22:00 pm

In a letter released to the U.S. bishops Friday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Government Liaison announced they have withdrawn the Presidential Questionnaire which had been delivered weeks ago to the Bush and Kerry campaigns.

At press time, the communications office of the USCCB had no statement prepared but, according to a press release issued by the Culture of Life Foundation, diocesan sources said at least one of the campaigns did not return the questionnaire by deadline.

"We have been critical of the Presidential Questionnaire because it improperly equates doctrinal issues like abortion with judgment calls like the minimum wage," said Austin Ruse, president of the Culture of Life Foundation.

"We also welcome the fact that candidate Kerry will not be able to use the questionnaire to claim he is a faithful Catholic when we know he actively opposes Church teaching on fundamental issues," he added.