Dear Friends in Christ,

In the next few months, all of us, as citizens of the United States, will be called upon to vote for our political leaders in national, state and local elections.

The Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently issued a statement on the importance of bringing values of our faith to the decisions made in our public life. In our statement, Faithful Citizenship, we recommend to our people “a new kind of politics—focused on moral principles not on the latest polls, on the needs of the poor and vulnerable not the contributions of the rich and powerful, and on the pursuit of the common good not the demands of special interests.” Before the General Election in November, I will be addressing further implications of Catholic teaching with regard to the choices we face.

But for now, to help clarify our duty to see political decisions in the light of faith, several archdiocesan offices, including the Parish and Community Ministry Program and the Pro-Life Office, have organized two workshops discussing the questions Catholics should ask when voting and engaging in civic life. Ways to teach others in your parish about faithful citizenship will also be discussed. The workshops will be held at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Roswell on Friday, August 27, from 7-9 p.m. and on Saturday, August 28, at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Atlanta from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

I encourage you to attend one of the above workshops as well as study the Bishops’ Faithful Citizenship document at www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship. For more information about Faithful Citizenship, please contact Mary Boyert, Director of Pro-Life, at (404) 888-7821 or Simone Blanchard, Director of Parish and Community Ministry for Catholic Social Services, at (404) 885-7265.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend John F. Donoghue
Archbishop of Atlanta