WASHINGTON — The presence of a Catholic major-party candidate in this year's presidential race seems to have raised interest in the interplay of faith and politics.

As the country's bishops put off until after the November elections a formal policy on what to do about Catholic politicos who take a public stance against Church teaching, several groups of Catholics are working to influence the votes of their co-religionists.

While previous efforts such as the Catholic Campaign for America and the Catholic Alliance never took off, organizers are hoping their new entities will be here to stay. They include the Ave Maria List, Real Presence Communications and Your Catholic Voice.

Each of the groups views its efforts as answering the call of Pope John Paul II and the U.S. bishops for Catholics to be active in the political process.

“In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation,” stated the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in its document “Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility.” “All believers are called to faithful citizenship, to become informed, active and responsible participants in the political process.”

The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Ave Maria List is the nation's first and only Catholic-based political action committee. An idea devised jointly by former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan and former political campaign manager Joseph Cella, the committee was officially formed May 1, 2002, in direct response to the pro-abortion political action committee Emily's List. The word “list” refers to the list of candidates the committees provide to their members.

“We saw a void of Catholics in the national political arena,” said Cella, who serves as executive director for the group. “We felt it was very important to answer the call of the Holy Father and the U.S. bishops to engage our faith in the political arena as part of the New Evangelization.”

Prior to heading the Ave Maria List, Cella worked as regional director for Sen. Spence Abraham, RMich., who currently serves as secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The list's goal is to elect a new generation of pro-life, pro-family leaders to the U.S. Senate. To that end, the list contributed several hundred thousand dollars to key senatorial races in 2002.

“Our top four races were Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota and Louisiana,” Cella said. “We focus like a laser beam on close races by providing direct contributions, bundling and independent expenditures to candidates.” The list also participated in races in Colorado, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Texas.

In the end, the Ave Maria List-supported candidates won in Minnesota and Missouri and the remaining races with which they were involved. This year the list is focusing efforts on races in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Louisiana.

Last year the list sponsored a series of radio and television ads during the nomination hearings for Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to a federal court seat. The ads accused Democrats of opposing Pryor because of his Catholicism.

Cella described the ads as “massively” effective.

“We were barraged with hundreds of e-mails from people expressing interest in supporting our mission,” he said.

Using his constitutional privilege to fill vacancies while Congress is not in session, President Bush installed Pryor on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 20.

A Catholic NPR

Real Presence Communications is working to give Catholics a voice — literally.

Founded by John Edward Hurley and Nick Heidenberg, the organization's purpose is to influence communications, particularly radio, by providing a Catholic perspective on the news. The apostolate's name derives from the love for Eucharistic adoration both men have.

“We're patterned after National Public Radio but with the mind of the Church,” Heidenberg said. “I would listen to the radio, but all I would hear is the news body slamming the Church. Twenty-five percent of the country is Catholic, yet we hear nothing from the Church's perspective on secular radio.”

For the past seven years Heidenberg has conducted radio interviews for a Knights of Columbus program that airs on public-access channels in Maryland. Hurley serves as chairman of the Sarah McClendon Study Group, which meets biweekly at the National Press Club. Founded by longtime White House correspondent Sarah McClendon, the group has heard from Cabinet members, agency directors and members of Congress.

Real Presence currently has correspondents in Washington, D.C., and Uganda. It has turned to the Dominican House of Studies and the Catholic University of America for Catholic voices.

“We've helped put Catholic scientists on secular radio and television to present the Church's perspective on how she sees herself,” Heidenberg said. “We went to Angola Prison and interviewed a Catholic horticulturalist who teaches prisoners how to care for plants that are going extinct. We'll soon be interviewing a nun in Delaware who takes care of migrant workers.”

The recently formed apostolate wants to flood the public-access air-waves with programs and offer them online.

While the organization is nonpartisan, Heidenberg noted that “influencing communications is political. When you go into some of these newsrooms, it's like you're entering King Herod's court. Real Presence Communications is a prayerful presence.”

Countercultural

Another organization trying to bring the Catholic perspective to the public square is Your Catholic Voice. Ray Flynn, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and mayor of Boston, serves as the organization's president.

Started by computer entrepreneur Michael Galloway, Your Catholic Voice is rallying the Catholic vote using a database of 165 million voters and the $5 million it has raised.

The group plans to create and distribute scorecards for voters in 19,000 Catholic parishes across the nation. In a “Faithful Citizenship Guide” issued for the Pennsylvania Senate primary April 27, the group outlined the positions embraced by Sen. Arlen Specter and challengers Rep. Pat Toomey and Joe Hoeffel. The guide pointed out that Specter voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2003.

Specter, who supports abortion, narrowly beat pro-life Toomey in the closely watched election.

Another voter's guide distributed in March throughout Massachusetts compared Democrat Angus McQuilken with Republican candidate Scott Brown.

“We're definitely trying to influence the Catholic vote,” said Dolores Meehan, marriage committee member for the organization.

On April 3, the organization held a successful Rally for Marriage and Family in San Francisco, attended by San Francisco Archbishop William Levada and Oakland, Calif., Bishop Allen Vigneron. Approximately 1,500 protesters peacefully processed around the North Beach neighborhood while praying the rosary.

“It was the first time an organized group of people peacefully protested against the powerful gay-activist minority here. Your Catholic Voice offered the structure. We're bringing our passion,” Meehan said. “We're declaring a Catholic countercultural revolution.”

“We are not doing this at the direction of anyone in the Church in Rome or the United States,” added Bill May, vice president of the organization. “We are merely responding to the call of the Holy Father for a New Evangelization and a new layled Catholic action and the call of the U.S. bishops to faithful citizenship.”

Observers see the various new efforts as promising.

“Too often we criticize Catholic politicians who do not support Catholic teachings, but we don't often support Catholic politicians who uphold Catholic teachings,” said Michael Hernon, a city councilman in Steubenville, Ohio, who works as a business and political consultant.

“Catholics are the largest denomination out there,” he said. “These groups are responding to the needs of Catholics to put their faith into action and make sure the candidates are aware that Catholics do in fact have a voice.”

Tim Drake writes from St. Cloud, Minnesota.