CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Divisions in the Catholic vote for president show the continued importance of \u201ceducating Catholics about our own faith,\u201d said analyst Joshua Mercer, co-founder of CatholicVote.org.<\/p>\n\t\u201cIf something\u2019s really important, you don\u2019t just say it once,\u201d he said in a Nov. 7 interview with CNA. Rather, he explained, the Church must be creative, working to find as many venues as possible to continue spreading its message on life, marriage and religious liberty.<\/p>\n
\tWhile more extensive information will be available in the coming months, initial data from the Nov. 6 presidential election indicates that Catholics maintained their standing as a bellwether group that indicates trends among the general electorate.<\/p>\n
\tNational exit polls show that Governor Mitt Romney held a significant lead among Protestants, especially Evangelicals, while those with no religious affiliation strongly favored President Barack Obama, according to a report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.<\/p>\n
\tWhen it came to Catholics, the analysis determined they were more divided.<\/p>\n
\tOverall, national exit polls indicated that Catholics voted for Obama over Romney by a 50 to 48 percent margin, identical to Obama\u2019s victory in the national popular vote.<\/p>\n
\tThe report found that white Catholics \u201cswung strongly in the Republican direction relative to 2008.\u201d Almost six in ten white Catholics voted for Romney, up from 52 percent who cast ballots for McCain in 2008.<\/p>\n
\tAmong Hispanic Catholics, however, 75 percent voted for Obama, with just 21 percent voting for Romney.<\/p>\n
\tDifferences in Church attendance also revealed patterns in voting behavior. Among voters of all faith backgrounds, those who attended religious services at least once per week preferred Romney by a 20 point margin.<\/p>\n
\tThose who never attend religious services strongly favored Obama, while those attending a few times per month or per year supported Obama over Romney by a 55 to 43 percent margin.<\/p>\n
\tMercer said that these distinctions among Catholics are significant in understanding their voting behavior and reaching out with the message of the Church on critical issues.<\/p>\n
\tWhile Catholics make up a large portion of the electorate \u2013 about one in four voters \u2013 they do not vote as a unified group, he recalled.<\/p>\n
\tBut Mercer said it is possible to identify at least three distinct subgroups of Catholics, each with their own voting behaviors.<\/p>\n
\tWhile those who attended religious services regularly favored Romney, it is difficult from initial exit poll data to tell what impact issues such as religious liberty played in their vote.<\/p>\n
\tThe U.S. bishops have spoken out recently about threats to religious liberty, including a federal contraception mandate issued by the Obama administration that requires many religious institutions to offer insurance coverage of contraception, sterilization and early abortion drugs in violation of their beliefs.<\/p>\n
\tA Pew survey shortly before the election showed that about one-third of Catholics who attend religious services at least monthly remembered hearing about religious liberty from the pulpit.<\/p>\n
\tMercer observed that it is possible that more than one-third of Catholics were present when religious liberty was discussed at Mass, but that they did not remember it because the issue was not consistently presented as an urgent matter.<\/p>\n
\tThe bishops have been unified in presenting a strong and clear message about the importance of religious liberty and the threat posed by the mandate, he said, and that message must continue to be proclaimed, so that the average person in the pew realizes that this \u201ctruly must be important.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tA second group of Catholic voters is comprised of those who are \u201ccultural Catholics,\u201d Mercer said. These individuals do not attend Mass regularly but still identify as Catholics. Although they have a basically \u201csecular mindset,\u201d they participate in the \u201crich culture\u201d of the Church.<\/p>\n
\tAmong these Catholics, the faithful should see an \u201copportunity to evangelize\u201d by reaching out through their shared culture and seek to deepen their understanding and appreciation of the Church, he said.<\/p>\n
\tAnother subgroup that is distinct in its voting behavior is the Latino Catholic population, said Mercer. Although most Hispanic Catholics are strongly pro-life and pro-marriage, this voting group heavily favored Obama, often differing from the Republican Party on immigration.<\/p>\n
\tReaching out to these Latino Catholics will require \u201ca sustained effort,\u201d Mercer said, explaining that teaching about the importance of pro-life and pro-marriage voting cannot be done simply through pamphlets handed out in the month before an election.<\/p>\n
\tRather, he said, there is a need to \u201cinvite our brothers and sisters who are Latino into the pro-life and pro-family movement and listen to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tWe must recognize that this means committing to \u201clong-term grassroots work\u201d and investing in Hispanic communities, Mercer stressed.<\/p>\n
\tIf Latinos become more integrated into those movements, Mercer believes it will strengthen the pro-life and pro-marriage causes and allow different Catholic groups to learn from one another.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s going to require building relationships,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Washington D.C., Nov 8, 2012 \/ 02:07 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Divisions in the Catholic vote for president show the continued importance of “educating Catholics about our own faith,” said analyst Joshua Mercer, co-founder of CatholicVote.org.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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