The Star-Ledger
 
How pope might influence election

Some Catholics await Benedict's April visit
Thursday, March 27, 2008
BY ELIZABETH BIRGE
Star-Ledger Staff

Two days after the 2004 presidential election William Portier ran into an acquaintance at the grocery store.

The man was a strong opponent of the Iraq war and had demonstrated against it, but when it came time to vote, he chose not to.
 
"He said he couldn't vote for (George) Bush because of the war, and he couldn't vote for (John) Kerry because of his support for abortion," said Portier, a distinguished professor of religious studies and chair in Catholic theology at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Pope Benedict XVI arrives for his first visit in the United States next month with the country once again in the middle of a heated presidential election.

And while no one believes the pope will speak directly about the presidential election during his visit, the tone and focus of his speeches could help influence millions of Catholic voters, many of whom live in key swing states such as Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which holds its primary next month.

If Benedict speaks pointedly about abortion, it could give a lift to Republican Sen. John McCain, even though McCain is at odds with the church on one key issue: embryonic stem cell research.

"John Paul II made it quite clear that the litmus test for Catholic orthodoxy was abortion, with sɛҳuąƖity not being far behind," said Mary E. Hunt, of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual. "But I'm not sure how Cardinal Ratzinger/Benedict will go on about that in the public arena in the states, whereas John Paul II had no compunction about bringing it up. He put it front and center like red meat."

But if Benedict also focuses more on world peace, poverty and church positions against capital punishment and punitive immigration laws, then many Catholics may consider supporting whichever Democrat gets the nomination, experts say.

If Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton can make even small inroads among the deeply religious Catholics who have voted Republican in recent elections, they could improve their chances of winning key swing states.

Theologians agree this election will be less rancorous among Catholics than in 2004 because there is no Catholic candidate and because the debate over gαy marriage is now being held at the state level rather than national, as it was in 2004.................................