By Rev. Richard Benson, C.M.

Does an embryo have a soul? Isn't society justified in putting to death a criminal that has committed a capital crime? Why should taxpayers have to support health care and schooling for undocumented children? Why didn't Pope John Paul II agree to call President Bush's invasion of Iraq a "just war"? When did health care become a "right"?

All of these apparently unconnected questions actually involve the same central Catholic moral principle, the consistent ethic of life. This principle is often associated with Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s 1983 proposal of the “seamless garment” analogy, a reference from John 19:23 to the seamless robe of Jesus, to provide a moral compass to help Catholics apply moral principles to life issues present in the public square.

Cardinal Bernardin suggested that a consistent ethic of life might be the most effective approach in addressing issues dealing with human life and dignity in a modern society more and more identified with the “culture of death.” His seamless garment approach suggests that all life issues such as abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, social injustice, racism, prejudice, poverty, unjust war and economic injustice are most effectively confronted when done so with a consistent application of moral principles that are firmly founded on the intrinsic value of human life.

In a recent interview with Eleanor Clift in Newsweek magazine (Dec. 21, 2009), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about her disagreements with the United States Catholic bishops concerning Church teaching. Speaker Pelosi replied, in part: "I practically mourn this difference of opinion because I feel what I was raised to believe is consistent with what I profess, and that we are all endowed with a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And that women should have the opportunity to exercise their free will."

Embodied in that statement are some fundamental misconceptions about Catholic teaching on human freedom. These misconceptions are widespread both within the Catholic community and beyond. For this reason I believe it is important for me as Archbishop of San Francisco to make clear what the Catholic Church teaches about free will, conscience, and moral choice.

Letter to the Editor of the Stockton Record, by Bishop Stephen Blaire, Bishop of the Stockton Diocese and president of the California Catholic Conference:

I wish to comment upon the editorial of Monday, May 25, in The Record, entitled "There is common ground."

Indeed there can be common ground but not to the detriment of one's conscientiously held beliefs and convictions. To base common ground consensus on pragmatic principles by sacrificing one's beliefs, suggested in the editorial, immediately undermines any legitimate common ground for dialogue.

To engage in a dialogue where participants do not talk past one another requires a willingness to listen for understanding and to speak respectfully. There must be care not to demonize or stereotype the other. If such conversation is to be authentic, however, it cannot be based upon a compromise of conscience.

Misunderstanding about abortion is common in today's culture.  Few people realize that abortions can be performed in California at any time during the nine months of pregnancy.  In this article, Carol Hogan highlights other little no facts as well:  no regulation to keep statistics on the number of abortions performed; public schools are allowed to arrange an abortion for a minor student without informing parents; and no requirement to provide women with information about health risks during an abortion.

Carol Hogan is the Director of Pastoral Projects and Communication for the California Catholic Conference.

Is the death of a preborn human in the womb really a private matter? Who is not horrified by the evil of genocide? How can a terrorist bombing of a marketplace ever be justified?

"We must begin with a commitment never to intentionally kill," says Living the Gospel of Life "or collude in the killing, of any innocent human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled or desperate that life may seem."