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The Southern Cross, Page 2 Thursday, November 2, 2000 “Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium” Washington (CNS) Editor ’s note: As voters head to the polls on Tuesday, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement that emphasizes the Catholic stance on key issues. ere in alphabetical order are excerpts from “Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium,” the document of the U.S. bishops’ Administrative Board which was submitted as testi mony this year to the platform com mittees of the Democratic and Republican Parties. ABORTION, ASSISTED SUICIDE AND EUTHANASIA Abortion, the deliberate killing of a human being before birth, is never morally acceptable. The purposeful taking of human life by assisted sui cide and euthanasia is never an act of mercy, but is an unjustifiable assault on human life. ... We support consti tutional protection for unborn human life, as well as legislative efforts to oppose abortion and euthanasia. We encourage the passage of laws and programs that promote childbirth and adoption over abortion and assist pregnant women and children. We support aid to those who are sick and dying by encouraging effective pal liative care. AGRICULTURE Those who grow our food should be able to make a decent living and maintain their way of life. Farmers deserve a decent return for their labor. COMMUNICATIONS The values of our culture are shaped and shared in the print media and on radio, on television and on the Internet. We must balance respect for freedom of speech with concern for the common good, promoting responsible regulations that protect children and families. ... We support the development of the TV rating system and of the technology that assists parents in supervising what their children view. ... The Internet has created both benefits and prob lems. Since it offers vastly expanded capabilities for learning and commu nicating, this technology should be available to all students regardless of income. Because it poses a serious danger by giving easy access to pornographic and violent material, we support vigorous enforcement of existing obscenity and child pornog raphy laws with regard to material on the Internet.... DEATH PENALTY Society has a right and duty to defend itself against violent crime and a duty to reach out to victims of crime. Yet our nation’s increasing reliance on the death penalty is extremely troubling. Respect for human life must even include respect for the lives of those who have taken the lives of others. ... As part of our pro-life commitment, we encourage solutions to violent crime that reflect the dignity of the human person, urg ing our nation to abandon the use of capital punishment. DEBT RELIEF AND GLOBAL POVERTY We urge the United States to pur sue ... debt relief to overcome pover ty in the poorest countries, which are shackled by a debt burden that forces them to divert scarce resources from health, education and other essential services. (The United States should also take) a leading role in helping to alleviate global poverty through for eign aid programs that support sus tainable development and provide new economic opportunities for the poor without promoting population control, and through trade policies that are tied to worker protection, human rights and environmental con cerns. DISCRIMINATION Our society must also combat dis crimination based on sex, race, eth nicity or age. Such discrimination constitutes a grave injustice and an affront to human dignity. It must be aggressively resisted. Where the ef fects of past discrimination persist, society has an obligation to take pos itive steps to overcome the legacy of injustice. We support judiciously administered affirmative action pro grams as tools to overcome discrimi nation and its continuing effects. ECONOMIC JUSTICE We support policies that create jobs with adequate pay and decent work ing conditions, increase the mini mum wage so it becomes a living wage, and overcome barriers to equal pay and employment for women and minorities. We reaffirm the church’s traditional teaching in support of the right of all workers to choose to organize and bargain collectively and to exercise these rights without reprisal. We also affirm church teaching on the importance of eco nomic freedom, initiative, and the right to private property, which pro vide tools and resources to pursue the common good. EDUCATION Educational systems can support or undermine parental efforts to educate and nurture children. No one model or means of education is appropriate to the needs of all persons. All par ents—the first, most important edu cators—should have the opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to choose the education best suited to the needs of their children, including private and religious schools. ... The government should, where necessary, help provide the resources required for parents to exercise this basic right without discrimination. ... As a mat ter of justice, we believe that when services aimed at improving the edu cational environment—especially for those most at risk—are available to students and teachers in public schools, those services should be available to students and teachers in private and religious schools. ENVIRONMENT We support policies that protect the land, water and the air we share, and encourage environmental protection, sustainable development, and greater justice in sharing the burdens of environmental neglect and recovery. HEALTH CARE Any plan to reform the nation’s health care system must be rooted in values that respect human dignity, protect human life, and meet the unique needs of the poor. We support health care that is affordable and accessible to all. As part of our efforts to achieve fundamental health care reform, we will support meas ures to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid and work for incremental measures that extend health care cov erage to children, pregnant women, workers, immigrants and other vul nerable populations. HOUSING The lack of safe, affordable hous ing is a national crisis. We support a recommitment to the national pledge of “safe and affordable housing” for all and effective policies that will increase the supply of quality hous ing and preserve, maintain and im prove existing housing. We promote public/private partnerships, especial ly those that involve religious com munities. IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES We seek basic protections for immi grants, including due process rights, access to basic public benefits, and fair naturalization and legalization opportunities. We oppose efforts to stem migration that do not effectively address its root causes and permit the continuation of the political, social and economic inequities that cause it. ... In protecting refugees, special con sideration must be given to vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied children, single women and women heads of families, and religious minorities. Asylum must be afforded (Continued on page I I) To Subscribe Send this in to your parish, together with your check for $15, made out to the parish. For more information call The Southern Cross (912) 238-2320 Name Address i Phone (_ Parish (USPS 505 680) Deadline: Ail material for publication on Thursday Publisher: must be received at the latest by noon Most Rev. j. Kevin Boland, D.D. on the previous Friday. '*f SS Director of Communications: Mrs. Barbara D. King Editor: Rev. Douglas K. Clark, S.T.L. Editorial and Business Office: Catholic Pastoral Center 601 E. Liberty Street Savannah, GA 31401-5196 (912) 238-2320 FAX: (912) 238-2339 E-mail: DCIark5735@aol.com or Southerncross@ix.netcom.com Internet Home Page: http://www.diosav.org POSTMASTER: Send Change of Address to circulation office: Chalker Publishing Southern Cross Subscription Department P. O. Box 948 Waynesboro, GA 30830 Subscription Price: $ 15 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at Waynesboro, GA 30830 Published weekly except the second and last weeks in June, July and August and the last week in December. At 601 E. 6 th Street Waynesboro, GA 30830 J