Re "Catholic voters, know your duty!" (C.I., Editorial, Oct. 2006).

With respect, the editorial of Fr. Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., subtly misrepresents the message of our wonderful new Pope, Benedict XVI. Fr. de Valk titles his piece, "Catholic voters, know your duty?" But the text of the message from Benedict, which he quotes, is directed not to voters, but to political leaders.

For voters, the choices available are more narrow and also more grim, and doubly so for those in the USA. We must choose between the Democrats who support abortion in all circumstances but who otherwise have a fairly decent social justice program, or the Republicans, whose leader (Bush), against the heartfelt pleadings of our beloved "Santo Subito" John Paul II, got us into the most appallingly unjust war since Vietnam, when he invaded Iraq. (Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger also condemned that invasion).

And, in fact, the Republicans really do little against abortion, while your Canadian "Conservatives" do nothing at all against abortion or such things as "homosexual marriage." And my own experience has been that anyone who attempts to enter political organizations with any kind of consistent pro-life and peace and justice message, is immediately sidelined and considered to be some kind of a freak. Is it different in Canada? I'm sure it is not.

Meantime, please don't distort anything that Benedict says! He is probably the most precise man on Earth and any distortion of his message, however slight, does a disservice to it.

Dingle, Ireland

Editor: Thank you for the letter. The writer is technically correct, but one can also see the Pope's messages in too narrow a perspective. When the Pontiff addresses the bishops of let us say, Zambia, the address always has implications elsewhere, first for the rest of Africa and perhaps also for the whole Church. When he addresses the bishops of Ontario he means the message for all the faithful not just for bishops, and not only in Ontario but also in all of Canada and, indeed, the whole world, wherever his remarks apply (certainly in the United States, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands). I simply drew the logical conclusion of the Pope's admonitions for the ordinary citizen. Bishops have no influence unless the laity sees the issue clearly.