The Catholic Union has published an election guide ahead of the General Election on Thursday 4 July.
The new document contains some suggested questions for candidates, as well as useful quotes from Church teaching to provide context.
The questions are based on the results of a General Election survey carried out by the Catholic Union earlier this year. It found that the top five issues of greatest concern to Catholics ahead of this election were:
- Care for vulnerable people
- Religious freedom
- Family life
- Education
- Dignity of life
The survey also found that over 90% of Catholic Union members and supporters were planning to vote in the election – significantly higher than the national average.
It also revealed a strong link between politics and religion, with 92% of people saying that their faith and the teachings of the Catholic Church “help to influence” how they vote.
The Catholic Union is encouraging people to read the guide and put the questions it contains to their parliamentary candidates – either at hustings or by contacting them privately.
The guide is available to download for free from the Catholic Union’s website.
Catholic Union Interim Director, Tristan Feunteun, comments: “Catholics are one of the largest – and one of the most politically- and socially-minded – religious minorities in the country. For the 4.5 million Catholics in Britain, the election is an opportunity to elect people who recognise the importance of faith to society and will work towards the common good. We hope that this guide provides a valuable resource for people as polling day approaches. The Church has much to offer our politics and society, and it is right that candidates engage with the interests and concerns of Catholics in this campaign. We look forward to working with all of those elected in the new Parliament, to advance the common good and help put the teachings of the Church into practice in our politics.”
We have compared the manifesto commitments from the main, national parties in our manifesto comparison table below.