BOSTON — The Democratic National Convention will be held in Boston in July, and Massachusetts almost surely will be in Sen. John Kerry's hands come Election Day.

But that didn't stop the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ed Gillespie, from coming to Boston to speak to Catholic supporters of President Bush. The chairman spoke to a group of approximately 100 Catholic grass-roots activists May 26.

In the wake of the court-ordered legalization of same-sex “marriage” in Massachusetts, the activists see support for Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, as defeating the causes they cherish. Instead, they are working for President Bush's re-election.

The activists — including members of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, the Knights of Columbus, the local chapter of Concerned Women for America and groups called Faithful Voice and the Parents’ Rights Coalition — organized the event to help the Republican Party communicate its message to Catholic voters in Massachusetts and neighboring states. Gillespie later traveled to New Hampshire to meet privately with about 10 Catholic activists there who will be part of the GOP's effort to win the state.

Polling conducted during the primary season put Kerry ahead of Bush by 29 percentage points in Massachusetts. The state is roughly 49% Catholic, and Kerry is a Catholic who has used his vote in the Senate against attempts to restrict abortion and who has expressed support for some form of legally-sanctioned unions for same-sex couples.

“John Kerry may be Catholic, but his voting record disagrees with the views of most Catholics,” said Gillespie in an interview after the Boston meeting. Gillespie, who is Catholic, pointed out that the Republican Party platform “says that marriage is between one man and one woman.” He told attendees at the meeting that “we must do everything we can to protect marriage, including amending the Constitution.”

“There is a fine line between letting people live their lives as they choose and respecting their privacy and forcing others to embrace their choices through government sanction,” Gillespie said in his speech. “And I have to say, those who say I must turn my back on the tenets of my faith in order to be accepted by them are the ones being intolerant, and it's nothing less than religious bigotry.”

“The economy, jobs and these issues are the ones most important to Catholics, just as they are to other Americans,” Gillespie said in the interview. “But they also care about gay marriage, especially when judges dictate same-sex marriage, and issues of life, promoting a culture of life. Kerry is against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. He made time to come back [from campaigning] to vote on these two bills and to speak at the pro-abortion rally [recently held in Washington]. But he had no time to vote on the energy bill or the Medicare drug bill. It's telling to see what his priorities are. He was one of only 14 senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act.”

The Defense of Marriage Act, signed by President Clinton in 1996, protects states from having to recognize same-sex “marriages” performed in other states — assuming the courts do not invalidate it.

Beyond Massachusetts

In addition to Gillespie's speech, “we had a great few hours of creating fellowship and planning strategy to make sure President Bush is re-elected,” said Carol McKinley, one of the principal organizers of the event.

Her group, Faithful Voice, became active three years ago in response to those who want to “change the teachings of the Church, make everything democratic and sever the American Church from the Pope,” said the mother and small-business owner from Pembroke, a Boston suburb.

McKinley said though it might seem difficult to win Massachusetts for Bush against a home-state opponent, “I don't think it's as hard to do as people think. … We are recruiting pro-family candidates for the state Legislature and Congress.”

“We are going to work in other states as well,” said Bill Hobbib, a local software executive who works with the pro-traditional-marriage group Coalition for Marriage and who helped organize the event. “In Massachusetts, there are candidates who are challenging longtime Democratic incumbents who voted against Catholic teaching on marriage.”

“People are really looking at John Kerry's record and are really dismayed,” Gillespie said.

But some Catholics, particularly those concerned with the right to life, are not happy about recent developments in the Republican Party, either.

Asked how he could explain to faithful Catholic voters the strong support of pro-abortion Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., against pro-life, pro-family Rep. Pat Toomey in that state's senatorial primary — Specter barely won — Gillespie replied, “We have to expand our majority in the U.S. Senate to confirm our president's judges. I'm a solid conservative myself and a devout Catholic and I supported Arlen Specter. We have a policy of supporting our incumbents for re-election.”

A Look at Issues

Republican outreach to Catholic voters is nothing new. Since the last presidential campaign, Deal Hudson, editor of Crisis magazine, has been in the midst of such voter relations.

“I offer my advice on how to reach Catholic voters with the Republican message,” said Hudson, the volunteer chairman of the Republican National Committee's Catholic outreach program. The best way to reach Catholic voters, he said, “is to have policies in line with Catholic teaching.”

He said Catholics should be reached just like any other demographic — through “a combination of events, methods of communication such as the event Ed Gillespie held.”

In addition to the economy, jobs, and life and marriage issues, Hudson said, it is important for Bush to communicate his position on the Iraq war to Catholics.

“They've heard criticism from the Vatican on Iraq, so they need to hear the president's message,” he said.

Hudson said the Republican Party has been successful in getting more Catholic votes recently while promoting life and family issues.

A recent poll conducted by Zogby International showed Kerry getting only 20% support among the country's 51 million Catholics on issues where he opposes Church teaching.

“Look what happened in 2000,” Hudson said. “Bush got 10 percentage points more of Catholics than [Bob] Dole did [in 1996]. That's 3 million votes. We won the Catholic vote in Pennsylvania despite losing the state. We have a message going out to Mass-going Catholics.”

Joseph A. D'Agostino writes from Washington, D.C.