My name is Ray Landry, and I am here to say that the Catholic Alliance does not speak for me. As a practicing Catholic and a public school teacher, I feel that I must speak out against Pat Robertson's latest attempt to deceive the American public. The truth of the matter is this: Pat Robertson's Catholic Alliance is a fraud.

It is a fraud for two reasons: First, the Catholic Church is too big and too diverse a community of faith to be represented by any single political organization--especially one with such a narrow political agenda. Second, the Catholic Alliance does not represent the rich tradition of Catholic social teaching recently articulated by the Pope and the U.S. Conference of Bishops--a tradition that stresses compassion for the poor, the needy, and the suffering.

So don't be fooled by the "Catholic" label: it is nothing more than false advertising designed to confuse unsuspecting Catholics. Executive director Ralph Reed recently admitted this in an interview. When asked about the relationship between his organization and the Catholic Alliance, Reed stated that the Catholic Alliance is "a fully owned subsidiary" of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition. According to Reed, "their job will be to get as many voter guides as possible in the Catholic churches in 1996." These voter guides distort the facts and misrepresent the views and values of political opponents. They are so biased in their selection and wording of issues that two Virginia bishops--Sullivan and Keating--have banned them from their churches.

The goal of the Catholic Alliance is not to promote Catholic values, but rather to increase the political power of Pat Robertson. As Ralph Reed explains, "The evangelicals are going to act as the base for the Republicans, and the Catholics will be the swing vote. . . . We believe if we can mobilize millions of Catholics the way we've mobilized million of evangelicals, it will make us an even more effective organization in the electorate." In short, the name of the game is power--not values, not morals, not principles--just raw political power.

If you want to hear a real Catholic organization speak, listen to the words of the Catholic Conference: "Our community of faith does not rely on focus groups or polls to chart our directions. . . . We draw our principles from Catholic teaching and tradition, not partisan platforms or ideological agenda. . . . We bishops specifically do not seek the formation of a religious voting bloc; nor do we wish to instruct persons on how they should vote by endorsing or opposing candidates. . . . A proper understanding of the role of the Church will not confuse its mission with that of government but, rather, see its ministry as advocating the critical values of human rights and social justice."

How different is the voice of a real Catholic organization from that of Pat Robertson's Catholic Alliance!