Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput will issue a new directive Wednesday that clarifies what political activity is allowed by clergy and prohibiting them from endorsing or contributing in partisan elections.Clerics in the archdiocese, which includes Larimer County, "may not publicly participate or endorse political campaigns or initiatives, or publicly affiliate themselves with groups whose primary purpose is to do so," according to an amendment to the Pastoral Handbook to be published in Wednesday's Denver Catholic Register.
The directive means priests and deacons in the archdiocese will avoid partisan political activity like endorsing or contributing to candidates, spokeswoman Jeanette DeMelo said.William Trewartha, deacon at Fort Collins' St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, has contributed to Republican candidates for years but will no longer do so. He and other deacons were told of the decision in a January meeting with Chaput and in an April letter that spelled out the directive being published this week.
"We were told we're not supposed to do this (political contributions) anymore. We're supposed to cease and desist," said Trewartha, who gave $1,200 to presidential candidate John McCain in the current election and $300 to Colorado Senate candidate Bob Schaffer. Those contributions were made before the January meeting with Chaput.
While restricted in partisan political activity, clergy have an obligation to speak out on important moral issues such as abortion or immigration, DeMelo said.
"The church's role in the public square is to help Catholics understand the teaching of their church regarding moral issues and encourage them to make informed decisions in light of those moral principles," she said.
Chaput has been one of the U.S. church's pre-eminent spokesmen on how faith should guide individual Catholics' voting choices. His new book, "Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life," will be published by Random House in August.
The archbishop's directive covers priests and deacons in his archdiocese, which includes the Denver metro area, some of the mountain communities to the west, and northern and northeastern Colorado.
It wouldn't prohibit a cleric from involvement in all electoral issues, DeMelo said.
"Political campaigns prohibited would be those that are strictly partisan; in other words, the priests or deacons cannot support political parties or candidates in a public way. Right to life or immigration initiatives are not strictly partisan — in fact, we encourage that they not be partisan," she said.
DeMelo said Chaput wanted to give guidance to clergy in advance of the 2008 election and wasn't reacting to any particular activity by priests or deacons.
Trewartha said Chaput wasn't aware of his political contributions during the January meeting.
Trewartha is the only donor in Federal Election Commission records this year who listed his occupation as a priest or deacon in the Denver archdiocese. But nationwide, about 100 Catholic priests and deacons have contributed nearly $100,000 to federal candidates or political parties in the 2007-08 election cycle, according to a Coloradoan review of FEC records.
Most of the contributions are to Republican groups or candidates, particularly outspoken opponents of abortion.
However, the largest single recipient of Catholic clerical money is presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, a supporter of abortion rights.
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