Catholic politicians face pro-life challenge. (signs of the times).

Sacramento Bishop William Weigand caused a stir in January when, during a sermon marking the 30th anniversary of legalized abortion, he called for California Governor Gray Davis to either renounce his support for abortion rights or "abstain fram receiving holy Communion until he has a change of heart." This was the first instance in what may be a new wave of church leaders and pro-life activists trying to hold Catholic politicians accountable to the teachings of their church.

Weigand's challenge--which he put to all Catholics, but particularly to those who are in public service--came on the heels of a new Vatican document called Doctrinal Note of Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life. The document, released on January 16, calls for Catholics to make faith integral to their voting and policymaking.

Catholics "have the right and the duty to recall society to a deeper understanding of human life and to the responsibility of everyone in this regard," it says. "Those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life. For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them."

The document calls for Catholics to respect and protect the rights of the human embryo, safeguard the family, protect children, oppose attempts to legally equate cohabitation or homosexual unions with marriage, promote religious freedom, work against "modern forms of slavery" including drug addiction and prostitution, work for economic justice, and promote peace. It says, "a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals."

The same day Weigand made his plea to Davis, the Crusade to Defend Our Catholic Church, a project of the American Life League, unveiled an ad campaign targeting Catholic senators who support abortion rights. The "Deadly Dozen" includes Ted Kennedy, Tom Daschle, and John Kerry. The ad gives the names of the senators and their respective bishops, so readers can lobby bishops to influence their wayward politicos.

Meanwhile, a stalemate has developed in Sacramento. "I've been a practicing Catholic for a very long time, and I was raised to believe in the separation between church and state," Davis told the diocesean Catholic Herald newspaper. Weigand disagrees. "You can't be a Catholic in good standing and hold that point of view," he told the Sacramento Bee. "You can't have it both ways."