Group aims to rouse Catholic voters

Ex-mayor Flynn kicks off campaign

August 19, 2004|Associated Press

Former Boston mayor Raymond L. Flynn thinks the decline in influence of Catholic voters began shortly after one of its highest points: the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy as the nation's first Catholic president.

"We finally made it," was the happy sentiment among Catholics, said Flynn, who worked on Kennedy's campaign. That was followed by a growing complacency that decades later finds Catholic voters apathetic and alienated by both major political parties, he said.

Last night, Flynn kicked off a statewide campaign to rouse this voting bloc, beginning with a speech in Dartmouth to lay leaders recruited by his new group, Catholic Citizenship. "Every other special interest group is well organized and well spoken for, except for the Catholic voice and vote," Flynn said. "Why should [Catholics] now sit idly by?"

The campaign plans periodic voter registration drives and weekly updates on topical political issues in every parish, among other things, said executive director Larry Cirignano.

The group was formed to educate parishioners about Catholic teachings on public policy issues and the positions of politicians. Cirignano said the hope is for a better informed Catholic voter.

Boston University communication professor Tobe Berkovitz said a reenergized Catholic vote could have an impact, particularly if those voters are driven by issues traditionally associated with Republicans, such as same-sex marriage, which the church opposes.

"What's going to matter is what [voters] are basing their decisions on," he said. "If it's based on religious and moral values, I think it could make a difference."

Joe Conn, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said he did not take the group's stated mission at face value. "I think Ray Flynn is trying to forge a religious voting bloc that will do the bishops' bidding," he said.

Flynn said that while Catholic Citizenship is backed by the church, it has yet to receive funding and is relying exclusively on volunteer efforts to get started.

READER COMMENTS »

View reader comments » Comment on this story »