Church’s role isn’t to be ‘party boss,’ telling people how to vote, says bishop

“When church leaders speak on issues such as immigration, poverty, health care, abortion, war or embryonic stem-cell research, we are not telling people how to vote,” writes Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora. “We are reminding them of the moral teachings that should inform their lives, and as a result, their votes.”

The archbishop made the comments in a Sept. 12 column headlined: “Why we don’t take sides on candidates.” He was writing in response to an announcement from the Alliance Defense Fund that it plans a nationwide challenge Sept. 28 to Internal Revenue Service rules that prohibit preaching in support of one candidate over another from the pulpit.