The conference intends to raise the level of debate on issues important to Catholics by helping lay women and men become better informed about Catholic social teaching. The first insert was sent to all California dioceses in February and focused on the overall agenda of the series, and it also included statements from Pope John Paul II that set the tone for the project. America will continue to be a land of promise as long as it remains a land of freedom and justice for all. Both as Americans and as followers of Christ, American Catholics must be committed to the defense of life in all its stages and in every condition. Democracy needs wisdom.
Democracy stands or falls with the truths and values which it embodies and promotes.
The Christian Coalition was formed in 1989 by televangelist Pat Robertson and numbers some 250,000 Catholics among its 1.7 million members. The Catholic Alliance was formed shortly after Pope John Paul II's visit to the United States in 1995. The bulletin insert goes on to say that many of the positions of the Catholic Alliance are significantly different from the positions of the U.S. Bishops. Welfare reform and health care issues are cited as examples of areas of divergence. If politics ignores this fundamental task, it can easily become little more than an arena for partisan gamesmanship, the search for power for its own sake, or interest group conflict.