When he ran for president 55 years ago, John F. Kennedy had to reassure voters that he would not “accept instructions on public policy from the pope.” Liberal Catholic politicians later faced threats of excommunication for opposing the church’s position on abortion rights.
Now, some conservative Catholic politicians have sidestepped the Pope Francis’s call for action on climate change, or have said he should stick to religion. But on many issues, Catholic voters don’t diverge greatly from the average voter. How much influence does the pope have on Catholic politicians and voters? Is there still a “Catholic vote”?
Responses:
No Catholic Vote, But Tens of Millions of Catholic Voters
Randy Boyagoda, author, "Richard John Neuhaus"
What How Countercultural Catholics React
Colleen Carroll Campbell, author, "My Sisters the Saints"
There Is No Homogenous Latino Catholic Vote
Hosffman Ospino, theology professor
The Pope Speaks to Every Voter's Experience
Simone Campbell, Activist nun