Catholic Writes to Newpaper on Three "Not Negotiable" Principles and the Public Square

A Cincinnati area Catholic wrote a great letter to the Cincinnati Enquirer on what Pope Benedict has called the "not negotiable" principles in the public square.

This is something I hope Catholics will be doing more of as to their local papers. That will be more effective than anything because I doubt many will be hearing this at MASS sadly.

This letter writer also is the Catholic blogger Ten Reasons which has a pretty dandy blog.

With the election season upon us, Ohio is once again poised to play a pivotal role in determining the next president and makeup of Congress. And as in 2004, there is much discussion of what impact religious voters will have. Heavily Catholic Cincinnati, whose archdiocese contains over half a million members, looms large in this conversation.

Predictably, a number of groups are attempting to sway the Catholic vote. Karen Vance's July 11 column noted that 24 members of the archdiocese attended a "social justice" conference in Philadelphia. The conference's chief sponsor, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, is led by former advisors to Sens. John Kerry and Hilary Clinton.

One attendee voiced her appreciation for the "diversity" of Catholic tradition, while an organizer showed his disdain for "single-issue politics or divisive wedge issues." Catholic social teaching does address a range of topics, from abortion and embryonic stem cell research to war and the environment. But do some teachings rank higher than others?

In March 2006, Benedict XVI stated that the "principal focus of (the Church's) interventions in the public arena is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person." He identified three "not negotiable" principles for "particular attention":

Protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death.

Promotion of the natural family structure - as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage - and its defense from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union.

The protection of the right of parents to educate their children.

The pope recognized that these principles "are inscribed in human nature itself and therefore they are common to all humanity." They are "addressed to all people," regardless of religious affiliation. As we Cincinnatians - Catholic and non-Catholic alike - sift through each candidate's positions, perhaps the words of Benedict XVI can help us set our priorities.
Rich Leonardi writes from Hyde Park.

I think the main points here are good to use as a model. I will try to find other type letters so perhaps we can use them as models