Bishops, of course, have a proper role in giving their personal views on what - using the words of Benedict - constitutes “proportionate reasons” for voting for a pro-choice candidate. And the faithful should give their views due weight.
But according to the U.S. bishops’ own teaching, the views of an individual bishop on these matters cannot be considered binding on Catholics.
Indeed, the U.S. bishops insist there “may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position even on policies promoting an intrinsically evil act may reasonably decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons.”
These kinds of judgments are “complex,” and require the faithful to employ “a well-formed conscience aided by prudence.”
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