Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Oct. 25 (CNA/CWNews.com) - In a campaign speech given in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, hoping to win undecided Catholic voters, spoke of his faith and the way it influences his decisions, and of his relationship to the Church, saying "I love my Church. I respect the bishops, but I respectfully disagree."

"I know there are some bishops who have suggested that as a public official I must cast votes or take positions on issues like a woman's right to choose or stem cell research that carry out the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church," he said.

"My task, as I see it," said Sen. Kerry, "is not to write every doctrine into law. That is not possible or right in a pluralistic society," he said. "But my faith does give me values to live by and to apply to the decisions that I make," he added.

Quoting the Gospels, Kerry emphasized his concern for social issues, saying that the concern for the most vulnerable members of society "is a moral obligation that is at the heart of all -- all -- of our religious traditions."

Leaders of several Catholic organizations responded by saying Kerry "misrepresented" the Catholic faith.

"The Christian faith has been misrepresented again today by John Kerry," said Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life. "Kerry said, on the one hand, that he disagrees with the Church on abortion, and yet that society must protect its most vulnerable members," he added.

"That's exactly why," he said, "the Church is against abortion and requires Kerry -- and every public official -- to extend protection to the most vulnerable, the children in the womb."

Father Pavone said, "Mr. Kerry obviously does not understand the Church he claims to belong to." He added, "The Church's position on abortion is not based on religious doctrine; it is based on the very duty to society that Mr. Kerry claims to fulfill."

William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, stated that though John F. Kennedy "ran from" his religion because of anti-Catholicism, John Kerry has decided to "run against his religion" and for reasons that have nothing to do with anti-Catholicism.

"No bishop has ever asked Kerry 'to write every doctrine into law,' and he knows it," said Donohue. "By suggesting that the bishops have pressed his back to the wall, Kerry is playing off the fears of anti-Catholics, setting himself up as the brave Christian soldier who won't buckle before those tyrannical bishops," he added.

When it comes to issues like taxes, said Donohue, Kerry reaches for "biblical support, but when it comes to the more fundamental life issues, the only choice he has is to check his religion at the government door?"

"It says a lot about John Kerry that he finds it necessary to curry favor with those who do not share his religion by openly running against it," he concluded.