‘Stir yourselves’ – engage in politics

CARDINAL Vincent Nichols made an impassioned call for Catholics to engage with politics in the run-up to this year’s general election for the sake of society and to avert a crisis of trust in government, writes Liz Dodd.

At the launch of the English and Welsh bishops’ conference guidance for the general election, due to be held on 7 May, Cardinal Nichols, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, told Catholics: “Stir ­yourselves.

“We’re citizens, we’ve been called to play a part in this society,” he said. “We have these 10 weeks to raise the game and to make sure that some of these debates address the crucial issues. We’re talking about the future of our society.”

He strongly condemned those such as the comedian Russell Brand who encouraged dis­affected people to withhold their vote, saying: “I would ask them to pay more attention to me than to him.” But he lay blame for this disaffection with politicians and the media, and said that ­headline-chasing debates which, “to use a football metaphor, play the man and not the ball”, risked creating a crisis of trust in society.

The bishops’ four-page letter, which will be circulated in parishes this weekend, asks Catholics to consider some fundamental ethical questions before they vote. The cardinal said the document was principally concerned with solidarity, with both the wider world and the poor, but said that life issues such as abortion and euthanasia were of the highest priority.

Commenting on a failed attempt to make abortion illegal on the grounds of sex selection (see page 34), Cardinal Nichols told a press conference that it was time the 1967 Abortion Act was changed.

The bishops’ letter goes on to ask Catholics whether their candidates supported marriage, alleviating poverty and access to faith education.

Religious freedom and overseas aid are also mentioned while the cardinal described the current demand for food banks as “shocking”.