WASHINGTON—Blog posts, YouTube videos, an online quiz and resources on Facebook are among the ways U.S. Catholics can learn about the Church's teaching on issues and involvement in the political process, as part of an initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). These resources promote the document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the call to political responsibility issued by the U.S. bishops in 2007 and reissued last fall.
"Christians have a responsibility to live out their faith in the public square, and today that also means online," said Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications. "People donate, speak out on numerous issues, get their news and participate in campaigns through the Internet and social media. The Church also needs to reach people through these media."
Resources include:
• An issues quiz, which will help Catholics form their consciences through statistics and facts related to key moral issues including abortion, poverty, embryonic stem cell research and immigration. One quiz question will be posted every Tuesday and Thursday starting April 24 at www.facebook.com/usccb.
• Video reflections by bishops, including Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami and Archbishop-designate William Lori of Baltimore, discussing different issues of importance for Catholic voters: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/videos-for-faithful-citizenship.cfm.
• A "Catholics Care. Catholics Vote." blog series, which explores different aspects of the bishops' document, including its assertion that political involvement is a moral duty for Catholics, the questions of conscience formation and a range of issues highlighted by the bishops ahead of the 2012 Elections: http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2012/04/catholics-care-catholic-vote-series.html.
• A tab on USCCB's page on Facebook called "Catholics Care. Catholics Vote." This web portal aggregates all of these resources at www.facebook.com/usccb/app_189116767802011.