The Roman Catholic Church will wade into the general election campaign next week with a controversial document condemning the loss of virtue in public life. In their pre-election manifesto, Catholic bishops are expected to take a line that is economically to the left of centre but conservative on social issues such as marriage, education and care for the elderly.
They will argue for the right to religious freedom at a time when secularist campaigning is on the rise as never before.
The document will also be interpreted as a warning to the Conservatives that their more liberal attitude to certain social issues, such as homosexuality, threatens to alienate a core block of swing voters in an election where the religious vote is regarded as crucial to the outcome.
In the document, discussed with the Pope when the bishops were in Rome for their ad limina visit earlier this year, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales warn that regulation has replaced virtue in public life.
They condemn the substitution of red tape and petty rules for virtue, the loss of trust, the financial collapse, the decimation of social capital, the loss of human dignity in policies on migration, the devastation to the global environment and the repeated attempts to erode religious freedoms in Britain.
The bishops, led by the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, condemn the tyranny of moral failures that has led to crises such as the parliamentary expenses scandal and call for a return to the classical Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity in public and private life.
Underpinning the document is the sense of anger in the Catholic Church at the battles they have fought over the place of religion in public life, in particular the lost battle over gay adoption.
One agency, Catholic Care, which serves the three dioceses of Hallam, Leeds and Middlesbrough, is taking the fight to the High Court next week.
An official Catholic pre-election document, it is to be published next Wednesday and is titled: Choosing the Common Good. It mirrors the 1997 document, The Common Good, interpreted as pro-Labour because it urged voters to make up their minds based on traditional concepts of Catholic social thought such as solidarity.
The document has more significance because of how close the main parties are in the polls, but is less clearly on the side of Labour.
It is unambiguous in recalling Catholic social thought that is critical of free markets, indicating the message the Church wishes to convey during the greatest economic crisis since the 1930s.
It is also understood to contain an admission of the Church’s own guilt in betraying trust.
Senior sources in politics and the Church believe that the Catholic vote could be pivotal to the outcome of the election. It will have potentially more in it for the Conservatives than have previous Catholic election documents, indicating approval of policies that support marriage.
The bishops will not stint in criticism of the moral failings that led to the financial collapse while effectively spelling out the areas that parties must address if they are serious about attracting the crucial Catholic vote, regarded in this election as a “swing” vote.
There are about five million Catholics in England and Wales, many in urban areas with marginal seats.
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