Our Lady of the Atonement Parish will be independently hosting a Candidate Forum next Sunday. Come and get a closer look at the candidates running for public office in Bexar County. Q & A period included. General elections are less than a month away.
Where: Our Lady of the Atonement Parish – St. Anthony Hall
When: Sunday, October 14th
Time: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Invited Candidates (many confirmed):
U.S. Cong. Quico Canseco, Rep. Pete Gallego, Rep. John Garza, Philip Cortez, David Rosa, Rep. Joaquin Castro, Susan Narvaiz, Lloyd Doggett, Mike Berlanga, Carlos Uresti, Deborah Parrish, Leticia Van de Putte, Alma Perez Jackson, Justin Rodriguez Robert Casias, Joe Farias, Kevin O’Connell, Judge Mary Roman, Joseph Appelt, Judge Antonia Arteaga, Art Rossi, Michael Mery, Robert Stovall, Albert Uresti, Joe Ortiz, Sergio Rodriguez
TEXAS LEADERSHIP COALITION INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC ADVOCACY VOTER GUIDE
TLC IPA VOTER GUIDE View or Download here
A memo was mailed to the pastors of the archdiocese of San Antonio on October 5th by Bishop Oscar Cantu. The memo calls attention to the TLC –IPA Voter Guide which Bishop Cantu claims is being distributed in parishes in the archdiocese. We will be communicating with the archdiocesan chancery office that the Board of TLC has not authorized or undertaken the distribution of the TLCIPA voter guide in parishes.
We, the Board members of TLC, have always complied and will continue to comply with Church guidelines concerning distribution of political material within the parishes. We are obedient sons of the Church and will remain so as our conscience dictates. However we believe our Catholic Voter Guide is strictly in accord with the Catholic Church’s moral principles. We are pleased to provide this critical service to the Catholic community in San Antonio during the elections in keeping with the mission of the Texas Leadership Coalition.
Our lay-run organization is responding to the urgent call of our Holy Father, Blessed Pope John Paul II, who in his apostolic exhortation on the vocation and mission of the lay Catholic directed lay Catholics to engage the world, to promote the dignity of the human person, to demand respect for the inviolable right to life, to safeguard the rights of the family, and to actively engage and evangelize the culture. (Christifideles Laici, 1988, See no. 38)
Furthermore Blessed Pope John Paul II spoke directly to us as Catholics in America in his exhortation, the Church in America:
“America needs lay Christians able to assume roles of leadership in society. It is urgent to train men and women who, in keeping with their vocation, can influence public life, and direct it to the common good…they must be formed in the truths and values of the Church’s social teaching, and in the basic notions of a theology of the laity (and)… strive to evangelize the various sectors of family, social, professional, cultural and political life.” (Ecclesia in America, Pope JPII, 1999, No. 44)
The primary mission of the Texas Leadership Coalition is to respond vigorously to our calling as American Catholics, to influence and inform our culture with great urgency, especially during this election year. The moral chasm that separates the body politic in America today is as deep as the Grand Canyon.
The TLC IPA voter guide provides candidate endorsements based on an extensive vetting process which started during the primary and run-off elections. (TLC IPA is the political action committee of TLC) We as Catholics can never compromise and negotiate away our moral principles concerning the intrinsic moral evils infecting every fiber of our culture regarding life, family, and marriage. The vetting process is explained on the second page of the endorsement list. Briefly, the candidates were meticulously vetted based on how closely their religious and social values, public pronouncements, voting records, and affiliations conform to Catholic moral principles. Other critical criteria were used as well, such as experience, competency, and performance.
We are not affiliated with any political party. The Voter Guide we produced is non-partisan! Frankly, if there were Democratic Party candidates we could endorse based on the Church’s moral criteria, we would endorse them as well.
We suggest Catholics study the political parties’ 2012 platforms for reasons why it is becoming nearly impossible to be a pro-life, pro-family, pro-marriage Democrat and extremely difficult to vote for Democratic Party candidates.
We are asking the Catholic faithful, who have been assisting the work of TLC, to comply with policies of the archdiocese regarding the distribution of political material and endorsement lists within our parishes. We ask for your assistance in distributing the TLC IPA VOTER GUIDE through email and other social media channels of communication, to your network of family, friends, and contacts and, when opportunities arise, to distribute the guide outside the perimeters of our parishes. We are convinced that for San Antonio and Bexar County, this is the best CATHOLIC VOTER GUIDE you can find for the 2012 elections.