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The Christian Coalition's Catholic Alliance''It's a fully owned subsidiary. It's not a separate organization.'' SUMMARY: Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition recently announced the formation of a new political organization called the Catholic Alliance. The goal of the new organization is to increase conservative Catholic participation in the political activities of Robertson's 1.7 million member organization. By having a separate organization with the word "Catholic" in its title, Robertson hopes to attract the support of conservative Catholics who are otherwise wary of him and his political ambitions. However, as Ralph Reed himself has admitted, this new organization will function as a "fully owned subsidiary" of the Christian Coalition. In other words, it will be nothing more than a Catholic front for Pat Robertson and his extreme brand of right-wing politics. _________________________________________________ When televangelist Pat Robertson ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1988 many Americans were alarmed at his extreme views and his radical agenda. Many people of faith were outraged that he was so cavalierly cloaking his political agenda under the mantle of religion and claiming that his views were the ones endorsed by God. Nevertheless, most of us found it difficult to believe that large numbers of people would take him seriously, or that there was any real possibility that this man could attain enough power to impose his radical views on all Americans. Then came Ralph Reed and the Christian Coalition. Using the donor lists and political connections acquired during Robertson's failed attempt at the Republican nomination, Reed and others established a network of grassroots organizations which today claim 1.7 million members. Stealth candidates, biased voter guides, and the shrewd use of polling data to craft different messages for different audiences have all contributed to the success of this powerful political organization on the local state and national level. And now, thanks to the Christian Coalition's increasing power and influence, Pat Robertson has become a major force in American politics. He is now in prime position to achieve his goals: seizing control of the Republican party and imposing his view of a "Christian America" on the rest of the nation. In order to achieve these goals, however, Pat Robertson needs Catholic support: he needs the general support and compliance of the Catholic leadership, and he needs the active support and money of faithful Catholics. Above all, he needs Catholic activists to distribute his biased voter guides (which distort the positions an values of political opponents) in Catholic churches. However, there is a problem for Robertson: the Christian Coalition is comprised mainly of conservative evangelicals, many of whom come from churches and denominations with a history of anti-Catholic rhetoric and a deep suspicion of the American Catholic community. Furthermore, many Catholics are skeptical about involving themselves with an organization which exists to further the political ambitions of Pat Robertson. That's why Robertson and Reed developed the idea of the Catholic Alliance: to provide a "separate" organization for Catholics which would, in reality, be entirely under the control of Pat Robertson. WHY A CATHOLIC ALLIANCE? As primarily conservative evangelical troops continue to take over Republican parties at the state and local level, and to influence elections, legislation and the public dialogue over the direction of our nation, Ralph Reed, the Executive Director of the Christian Coalition, sees the need to expand his base. "The evangelicals are going to act as the base vote for the Republicans, and the Reed is heartened by the GOP victories in the 1994 congressional elections, where for the first time a majority of Catholic voters backed Republican congressional candidates (51%-49%). (PPG, 8/27/95) With the addition of Catholic churches to his list of targets for distribution of biased voter guides, Reed believes that he can "strategically tip" the '96 presidential election. (O'Keefe, Portland Oregonian, 8/26/95) Reed is convinced the time is ripe for the Christian Coalition to make major inroads into the Catholic Democratic base by emphasizing ''core issues'' such as school choice, opposition to "religious bigotry", homosexuality and pornography, protection of parental rights and the sanctity of human life. (PPG, 8/27/95) WHAT CAN CATHOLICS DO FOR THE CHRISTIAN COALITION? The goals as stated by Executive Director Ralph Reed are clear. The Catholic Alliance will attempt to increase Catholic membershipin the Christian
Coalition from its present level of 250,000 to 1,000,000 by the year 2000. "Their job will be to get as many voter guides as possible in the Catholic Churches in
1996" THE CHRISTIAN COALITION vs. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WELFARE REFORM Christian Coalition: In an August 29, 1995 letter to Senator Bob Dole, leaders of the Christian Coalition, Family Research Council and six other organizations wrote, "we have emphasized repeatedly that scaling back the cash benefits to mothers is the least we can do and still honestly claim to be changing the system. . ." (Associated Press, 8/31/95) Catholic Church: "Genuine welfare reform should rely on incentives more than harsh penalties; for example, denying needed benefits for children born to mothers on welfare can hurt the children and pressure their mothers toward abortion and sterilization." (Moral Principles and Policy Priorities for Welfare Reform, A Statement of the Administrative Board of the U.S. Catholic Conference, 3/95) GUN CONTROL Pat Robertson: Mirroring NRA language, he has called for "criminal control, not gun control." After Michael Jordan's father was murdered, Robertson accused "liberals" of using this tragedy as an excuse for even stricter gun control." (Christian American, 10/93) Catholic Church: "We believe that effective action must be taken to reverse the rising tide of violence. For this reason, we call for effective and courageous action to control handguns, leading to their eventual elimination from society." (Handgun Violence: A Threat to Life, Committee on Social Development and World Peace, U.S. Catholic Conference, 9/11/75) CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Pat Robertson: As a 1988 candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, Robertson said, "I can't see frankly anything wrong with a death penalty for federal crimes." ( L.A. Times, 8/28/87) Catholic Church: ". . . in the conditions of contemporary American society, the legitimate purposes of punishment do not justify the imposition of the death penalty. (U.S. Bishop's Statement on Capital Punishment, U.S. Catholic Conference, 11/80) CIVIL RIGHTS Pat Robertson: As a presidential candidate in 1988 Pat Robertson opposed the Civil Rights Restoration Act., which restored broad anti-discrimination protections previously limited by the Supreme Court. (St. Petersburg Times, 3/3/88) Catholic Church: Archbishop John May, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote in a letter to President Ronald Reagan that the Church believes that the Civil Rights Restoration Act "does much to strengthen civil rights protection while safeguarding vital concerns about human life and religious liberty." (UPI, 3/15/88) MEDICARE Pat Robertson: ". . . it's very wasteful and its not necessarily a good program. It's helped some people, but at a huge cost to the government." (700 Club, 9/21/95) Catholic Church: In an August 17, 1995 letter to Congressman Neil Abercrombie, leaders of the U.S. Catholic Conference and the Catholic Health Association wrote, "We strongly recommend that consideration of reductions in the growth of program funding reflect a recognition of the dependence of the elderly and the poor on Medicare and Medicaid." U.S. Catholic Conference/ Catholic Health Association letter, 8/17/95) IMMIGRATION Christian Coalition: According to Ralph Reed, "It is irresponsible public policy to subject the American public to a health menace being imported within our borders. We already have a health crisis in our country. Why would we want to further import it?" (Newsday, 8/5/91) Catholic Church: "The U.S. Bishops support increasing the number of immigrants admitted to the U.S. and providing temporary safe haven for those in need." (U.S. Catholic Conference Statement on Principles for Legal Immigration Policy, 9/13/88) WILL THE CATHOLIC ALLIANCE PUSH THE PAT ROBERTSON AGENDA Despite the new name, and the fact that this organization will have its own letterhead, it is quite evident that the mission of this group will not be one based in Catholic doctrine. It appears that it will embrace the same agenda and tactics as those espoused by televangelist and Christian Coalition President Pat Robertson. ''It's a fully owned subsidiary. It's not a separate organization.'' Reed claims that this new effort to recruit Catholics is ''just realpolitik''. ''Webelieve if we can mobilize millions of Catholics the way we've mobilized millions of evangelicals, it will make us an even more effective organization in the electorate.'' (PPG, 8/27/95) THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT "We join the public debate to share our experiences in serving the poor and vulnerable." "This kind of political responsibility does not involve religious leaders telling people how to vote or religious tests for candidates. These would be, in our view, pastorally inappropriate, theologically unsound, and politically unwise." - (Political Responsibility: Revitalizing American Democracy - A Statement of the United States Catholic Conference Administrative Board, 9/91) Catholic Church Political Responsibility Guidelines According to official guidelines distributed by Bishop Sullivan, Catholic churches, their leaders and representatives should NOT: Endorse or oppose candidates for political office Distribute partisan campaign literature under church auspices or on church property Arrange for groups to work for a political candidate Invite only selected candidates to address your church-sponsored group Conduct voter registration slanted toward one party Distribute a biased candidate survey or a single-issue survey
CATHOLIC CLERGY'S REACTION TO THE CATHOLIC ALLIANCE After reading a Sept. 4 news report stating that the Christian Coalition was forming a Catholic Alliance to distribute voter guides at Catholic churches and recruit members from Catholic parishes, Richmond, VA Bishop Walter Sullivan wrote to pastors and pastoral coordinators warning them to avoid entangling alliances with "political groups". Bishop Sullivan reminded them that diocesan guidelines prohibit the distribution of voter guides by any outside group on parish grounds. Bishop Sullivan cautioned pastors that it is "inappropriate for parishes to allow partisan political groups to solicit membership support from parishioners." (Roanoke Times & World News, 9/19/95) Sullivan's letter included a copy of the "political responsibility guidelines which prohibits parishes from endorsing or opposing candidates for political office, distribution of partisan political campaign literature, and other actions that might be perceived as favoring one candidate over another. (RTWN 9/19/95) "We cannot allow any group, even through the use of the name 'Catholic,' to give the appearance that they speak for the church," Sullivan wrote. Even when church teaching is in agreement with another outside group on "important issues, ... no outside group fully represents the public policy agenda of the church." (RTWN, 9/19/95) "The Catholic Church and its parishes should not engage in partisan politics." (RTWN, 9/19/95) Sullivan said the coalition's national convention last week was so aligned with Republicans that the group has a partisan appearance (The Washington Times, September 16, 1995) In addition to Bishop Sullivan's repudiation of the Catholic Alliance, several other Catholic officials and laity have expressed serious reservations as well. ''It leads me to believe that Catholics aren't welcome in the main group,'' said William J. Dale, priest at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Norfolk. ''Separate but equal, it sounds like to me. Why would he make a distinction?'' (The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), 9/4/95) National and local leaders in the Catholic Church said bishops aren't likely to offer their
blessings to the "Everybody has a right to organize in whatever way they choose. The test will be who joins," said John Carr, director of the U.S. Catholic Conference's office of social development and world peace. "Catholics already have a place. It's called the Catholic Church." (RNS 9/23/95) CONCLUSIONS The Catholic Alliance does not represent all Catholics any more than the Christian Coalition represents all Christians or even all evangelicals. Like its parent organization, the Catholic Alliance is a political organization which manipulates the language of faith for partisan political purposes: It uses the symbols of faith as a weapon against political opponents, and tries to use the authority of religion to push its own radical agenda The agenda of the Catholic Alliance, which is the agenda of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition, does not represent the full range of Catholic Social Teaching. On issues such as welfare reform, capital punishment, civil rights, health care, gun control, immigration and others, the agenda of the Catholic Alliance and the Christian Coalition run directly counter to the mind of the Church as expressed by both the Vatican and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. |
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