By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 Reporter
Dallas, TX –
Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter: It's a typical Sunday mass in Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Oak Lawn section of Dallas. In the pews sit hundreds of respectful, devoted Catholics. But just below the calm surface here are divergent political opinions on Church-held positions, from abortion to the war in Iraq.
Imana Cordova, educator and Holy Trinity Catholic Church parishioner: If we really got into it, I think we could really tear each other apart on this war issue. We all go to church together; we want to be able to look at each other in the eye next Sunday.
Zeeble: So educator Imana Cordova downplays her opposition to the war, which the Pope has also denounced as unjustified. She terms it a Pandora's box.
Cordova: It was too swift, you know - we don't have to get any support from others; we just have to do it today. Maybe we're off base, but I feel like we've gone into the wrong country after the wrong guy. I thought we were going after Osama Bin Laden in another country. If we're going to go after the terrorists that took down the towers, let's go after the terrorists that took down the two towers.
Zeeble: Cordova's concerns over the war reflect political research on Catholics, according to Southern Methodist University Assistant Political Science Professor Matthew Wilson. He's writing a book on Catholic voters.
Matthew Wilson, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Southern Methodist University: The Iraq war issue is one that has hurt Republicans among Catholic voters, because opinion surveys I've seen have shown that Catholics are less supportive of the war than the population at large.
Zeeble: Still, fellow Catholic Bruce Toplek, an accountant, praises the war efforts and President Bush's move into Iraq following military actions in Afghanistan.
Bruce Toplek, accountant and Holy Trinity Catholic Church parishioner: We need a strong hand. People who want to do something bad to us - they respect that. I like that about George Bush. He says something and he's going to do it, and he seems fairly consistent. You need someone consistent. You don't need something wishy-washy who sends mixed signals.
Zeeble: "Mixed" might describe how Catholics receive messages from the Vatican. The Catholic Church has consistently said life, from conception, is sacred - so it opposes abortion, and the death penalty, and the war in Iraq. It opposes gay marriage. The U.S. Conference of Bishops also calls for universal health care and has urged the faithful to reach out to poor women and children, immigrants, the uneducated, elderly and disabled. It calls for care of the environment and for worker rights. But few of this country's 74 million or so Catholics - or the 1.5 million in North Texas - vote in lock-step with the church.
Wilson: You have to decide, what are the most fundamental issues?
Zeeble: Again, SMU's Matt Wilson.
Wilson: So for many Catholics, especially the more traditional, orthodox Catholics, the answer is abortion. They say that trumps other questions.
Zeeble: President Bush's anti-abortion position has been a cornerstone of his campaigns for years now. Professor Wilson says that after Bush narrowly lost the Catholic vote to Al Gore four years ago, the President's strategists moved to bolster his conservative appeal to win more faith-driven voters. Bush's rejection of legalized gay marriage is one tactic. And pro-life voters, from evangelicals to conservative Catholics, are largely his, say political observers, despite the President's support for the death penalty and the war.
Zeeble: Meet 20 year-old political science junior Tom Ranieri. He attends the small, conservative, and Catholic University of Dallas.
Tom Ranieri, Political Science student, University of Dallas: I'm definitely going to vote for Bush, there's no question of that; 'cause John Kerry is about as far from Catholic as you could possibly be, and George Bush is more Catholic than John Kerry. The Catholic Church has made it pretty clear. If you agree with, support or vote for - in any way - abortion, you're schismatic, you're cut off, excommunicated, ex facto. You can't be Catholic and vote for or have anything to do with abortion.
Zeeble: This is the first presidential election Ranieri will vote in. He says the overwhelming majority of the school's thousand or so students are Republicans, based in large part on their faith, and in many cases, the single issue of abortion.
Ranieri: You can't be a cafeteria Catholic - I like this, I don't like this. There are standards and rules, and you must follow them or you're not a Catholic. If you want to support abortion, fine, but you're not Catholic.
Zeeble: UD Junior Jill Farrington is a Democrat, and says she's been warned by some students she'll end up in hell if she doesn't change parties. But Farrington isn't budging. And Republican student Nick Tammaro supports her.
Jill Farrington, student, University of Dallas: I don't think we can start judging other Catholics and saying you're less than a Catholic than me.
Nick Tamaro, student, University of Dallas: I agree. The simple principle that "judge not, lest you be judged" should be used there. I would never ever tell someone I think they're less Catholic than me because of their stance politically.
Zeeble: These two students' stances, politically, are opposite. Nick Tammaro, like Tom Ranieri, backs President Bush and the Republicans on issues from the war, gay marriage and abortion to less faith-driven policies like the economy. Farrington, equally compelled by her faith, backs Kerry and the Democrats.
Farrington: I am not pro-choice; I'm pro-life, but I think there are other offenses to human dignity that must be taken into consideration when you're deciding who to vote for - poverty, health care. To vote Republican simply because they oppose abortion is wrong when I feel the Democratic Party's policies are so much more in line with the Catholic Church, in many respects.
Zeeble: Other Catholics are also worth paying attention to because they're undecided and represent the coveted swing vote. Holy Trinity's Mitch Duplechan is among them. He attends church every Sunday, works as an usher, and helps gather, then tabulate, the collected donations. But he's also largely uninfluenced by official Church teachings.
Mitch Duplechan, Holy Trinity Catholic Church parishioner: You listen to them for moral guidance. But sometimes you listen to them and some of them make sense and some don't, but you know they have to parrot the Roman theory here. Well, if you don't agree with the Pope, you're not going to be a pastor very long. Most of them have got to keep their mouth shut.
Zeeble: Holy Trinity's pastor, Father Jack Cawley, admits Catholics cover the widest range of beliefs, defying stereotypes. But he says they've always been urged to participate in community activities and politics, whatever the party.
Father Jack Cawley, Pastor, Holy Trinity Catholic Church: We've always lived with this tension for 2000 years, and it's part of what's exciting about being a Christian, a Catholic today. It's a desire to be virtuous people, and yet we live with our brokenness and frailties as individuals and as a community.
Zeeble: Of those 40 million or more Catholics who will vote this November, Cawley says there may be 40 million separate decisions all made in light of the Gospel and the guidance of the Church. For KERA 90.1, I'm Bill Zeeble.
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This story is part of KERA's Voter's Voice 2004 coverage. Click here for more on Voter's Voice 2004.
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