Catholic bishops vote this week on pro-life election 2008 document

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's Catholic bishops this week plan to vote on an election 2008 document outlining how Catholics should be involved in political issues during next year's election. The document says that Catholics should put their pro-life values ahead of devotion to a particular political party and urges more Catholics to run for office. It has become a custom that U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops release political guidelines for Catholics every four years in advance of presidential elections. The vote will take place during the bishops' annual meeting -- which begins today -- and the new document they will consider calls on Catholics to look beyond "powerful interests, partisan attacks, sound bites and media hype." Instead, they should be focused on "the dignity of every human being and the protection of the weak and vulnerable." "As Catholics, we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group," the 47-page draft document reads. "When necessary, our participation should help transform the party to which we belong; we should not let the party transform us in such a way that we neglect or deny fundamental moral truths," it adds. While other political issues are mentioned as important ones for Catholics, the document, entitled, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” says that abortion and other pro-life issues are paramount.