In his keynote, Archbishop Naumann recalled how, as a young priest, he became dismayed when he heard Geraldine Ferraro, a Catholic, proclaim her "pro-choice" stance as she accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party for vice president in 1984.

Ferraro, he said, "separated herself from church teaching so profoundly," and at the same time launched the "scandal" of Catholic politicians proclaiming themselves, "personally opposed to abortion, but . . ."

"I remember seeing that and being so saddened by it," the archbishop said.

Abortion, along with embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and same-sex marriage, are among issues that pose such "intrinsically evil" threats to human life and the family that no Catholic can dissent from them and remain faithful to church teaching, Archbishop Naumann said.

This does not mean, he stressed, that church teaching on other issues such as war, the death penalty, health care, and immigration policy are not important.

"There are many issues, in fact most issues, in which a Catholic politician can reach different conclusions and still be faithful to church teaching," Archbishop Naumann said.

"At the same time, there are issues in which support of a particular policy involves support of an intrinsic evil," he said.

"We are concerned about the rights of parents as the primary teachers of children, about health care, about the preferred option for the poor, about criminal justice and the elimination of the death penalty, about national security, about just and lasting peace, about protection of the environment," the archibishop said.

"But issues (involving intrinsic evils) must receive a moral priority," he said. "While all issues are important, not all issues are equally important on a moral order."

The dilemma for Catholic voters, he said, is often between choosing "the lesser of two evils."

That is morally acceptable, Archbishop Naumann said.

"We must not let the perfect become the enemy of the good," he said. "We can vote for some person despite their support for an intrinsic evil if they offer a better choice (than the opponent). But you can't vote for that candidate precisely because of their support for an intrinsic evil."

He said, "just voting is not sufficient."

"It may even be counter-productive if we are not fully informed about the policies and positions of politicians," he said.

The challenge, he said, is to "build a broad consensus so that neither the Democratic or Republican Party will tolerate anybody who speaks up for abortion," just as neither party will tolerate any candidate who speaks in favor of racial prejudice.

"Life will be victorious," Archbishop Naumann said if Catholics use their votes and their influence to change the political debate in favor of life.

"We know already that the victory of life has already been won" by Jesus, the archbishop said.

"We are just experiencing its unfolding at this moment of history. We are called to spend our time doing something that makes a difference in this moment of history. What more can we do than defend the sanctity of life?"

END