2-November-2004 -- EWTNews Brief

'MOST OF US ARE WITH BUSH,' SAYS NATIONAL PRIESTS' LEADER

WASHINGTON DC, USA, November 2 (CNA) - A well-known Catholic priest said he thinks most U.S. priests will vote for President George Bush in today's election.

Fr. Frank Pavone heads up several national organizations (Priests for Life, the National Pro-life Religious Council, and Gospel of Life Ministries). He said he was speaking in his personal capacity, based on his conversations with priests across the country, and not as the representative of those groups.

Fr. Pavone said he thinks Bush "understands Christian moral values far better than John Kerry does."

Catholicism is "a religion that does not allow us to privatize human rights to the realm of personal belief," he said, adding that this is why Kerry is wrong in supporting abortion.

Fr. Pavone said he does not mean that the President should be a Catholic, but "if one claims to be a Catholic, then that person should adhere to what Catholicism teaches. Otherwise, have the integrity to say that you can no longer embrace that religion.

"That lack of integrity, furthermore, will spill over into other areas of life. And in the case of a President, that's particularly troubling," he said.