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Gubernatorial candidates react to archbishop's letter

JEFFERSON CITY - Representatives for Missouri's gubernatorial candidates offered differing thoughts about the latest political pronouncement from one of the top Roman Catholic leaders in Missouri.

In an Oct. 1 letter, St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke wrote that it would be a sin for a Catholic to vote for a politician who supports abortion rights, unless that candidate is overall more aligned with the Archdiocese's views.

Abortion rights is one of the major issues dividing Republican Matt Blunt from Democrat Claire McCaskill -- who is a Catholic.

McCaskill's spokesman, Glenn Campbell, said McCaskill is not worried about the impact of Burke's letter.

The archdiocese has more than 500,000 parishioners.

Campbell said McCaskill does not believe the archbishop's comments have hurt her chances with Catholic voters.

"I am a Catholic, my boss is a Catholic, there are a lot of people on this campaign that are Catholic and we are just not going let this dictate the way we vote," Campbell said. "I don't think that people do that, anyway."

John Hancock, a spokesman for Republican Matt Blunt, said the comments are a way to measure where Blunt stands with the people of Missouri.

"On most of those issues Matt Blunts's record and Claire McCaskill's record couldn't be more different, and I think the archbishop's letter, along with the values of most of the people in this state, are more aligned with Matt Blunt than they are with Claire McCaskill," Hancock said.

In addition to abortion, the Oct. 1 letter also cited gay marriage and embryonic stem-cell research as issues that should be considered by Catholics in voting.

According to Steve Puro, a political science professor at St. Louis University, this kind of endorsement of values by a priest was more effective in the 19th century when the church and communities overlapped each other.

"I think individuals already voting on those issues would not be further motivated by comments made the archbishop," Puro said.

The Rev. Edward Richard, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said Burke released the letter to guide his parishioners on how to live out their roles as Christ's disciples and how to fulfill their responsibilities for the common good.

Asked specifically about McCaskill, Richard said "her view to support abortion is inconstient with her Catholic faith," adding, "she is in error about this issue."

But McCaskill's aid disagreed.

"Those opinions are opinions of conscience, and are important for every single individual to make as well as individuals to excercise their right to a free vote," Campbell said.