One of the “offices” (role, duty, responsibility) of a Catholic bishop is the teaching office.  The Bishop of St. Petersburg (FL), Most Reverend Robert Lynch – the first episcopal blogger as it happens – has well exercised that office on his blog.  I recommend it as a starting point on  one’s own reflection on the upcoming election.  You can find his blog “Promises, Promises” here.

“….what I have attempted to do above is to take the issues which the body of bishops in the United States have lifted up as constitutive for conscience formation today and apply them for myself. I only ask you to do the same in forming your conscience and decisions. I do not wish to tell you for whom to vote or how to vote, but rather, in an area of human reasoning and judgment, only explain how I see these issues when I consider how to cast my vote.”