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CatholicVote.org

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CatholicVote.org is a conservative,[1][2][3][4] non-profit political advocacy group based in the United States. While the organization acknowledges the authority of the Magisterium, it is independent of the Catholic Church.[5]

CatholicVote
Founded2008
Type501(c)(4) non-profit
FocusRoman Catholic political advocacy
Location
Area served
United States
Key people
Brian Burch (President)
Websitewww.CatholicVote.org

Structure

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CatholicVote.org is divided into three organizations:

  • CatholicVote.org, a project of Fidelis, a Catholic organization.[6][7][8][9][10]
  • CatholicVote.org Political Action Committee (CatholicVote PAC) is the group's connected political action committee; its goal is to financially support political candidates who "will be faithful stewards of Catholic social teaching and the common good".[5] In 2010, it made campaign contributions to six Republicans and one Democrat.[11]
  • CatholicVote.org Education Fund is a 501(c)3 tax-deductible program which comprises two units: the CatholicVote.org Education Fund and the CatholicVote.org Legal Action Fund.[citation needed]

History

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Domain name

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The CatholicVote.org domain name was first used by the Catholic Alliance in early 2000.[12] The Catholic Alliance was a grassroots group of Americans who agreed with the platform of the fundamental evangelical Protestant Christian Coalition but wished to widen the Coalition's scope to include Catholics.[13] The Catholic Alliance, formed in 1995, held the website until mid-2002. The next owner of the domain name was Larry Cirignano, founder of Catholic Vote, later called Catholic Citizenship. He used the domain for six years until mid-2008.[14][15] The Fidelis Center began operating the domain in October 2008, initially redirecting it to CatholicVote.com. The first published articles linked on the site included ones by co-founders Brian Burch and Joshua Mercer. The Fidelis Center subsequently sold the domain to Fidelis, a related, but independent 501(c)4 organization which operates the domain today.[16]

Activism

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Marriage and sexuality

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On June 25, 2015, one day before same-sex marriage became legal everywhere in the United States, CatholicVote.org uploaded a video onto YouTube called "Not Alone".[17] The video features Catholic people who oppose same-sex marriage defending this belief, saying that people should not hate or dislike those who oppose same-sex marriage.[18][19] It quickly received a minimum of a million views on YouTube,[17] where it received a massive backlash due to the video's message.[18] On YouTube, "Not Alone" both received many more dislikes than likes.[17][18] Parodies of the video appeared very quickly.[17][18] According to Catholic News Agency, many websites condemned the video, calling the participants "bigots" or "anti-gay".[19] CatholicVote.org president Brian Burch said "literally tens of thousands of people are emailing, saying: 'thank you for speaking up for me. I don't agree with the Supreme Court decision, but I don't hate anyone.' "[19]

In June 2022, CatholicVote.org urged parents to check out any LGBT-themed books from their local libraries so that no children would be able to see them.[20]

Anti-abortion

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"Imagine Spot 1" was the first release of the national media campaign "Life: Imagine the Potential" in 2009. In ten days it recorded over 700,000 hits.[21] The commercial centers around the story of President Barack Obama, showing an ultrasound image and saying that despite a hard childhood, the unborn child will grow up to be President of the United States.[22] The advert was rejected by both NBC for airing during the Super Bowl[21] and CNN for airing during coverage of President Obama's first State of the Union Address.[23]

A second commercial was also released in 2009, "Imagine Spot 2". This commercial featured Nelson Mandela. It aired in selected markets during the American Idol season 8 finale.[6]

Other activism

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In 2010 CatholicVote.org organized a petition urging the United States Postal Service to issue a Mother Teresa commemorative stamp despite opposition by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and similar groups.[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Politics Daily: Donald Trump, Family Values Conservative -- Believe It or Not". Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  2. ^ Conservative Catholics rally against contraception mandate
  3. ^ Boston Globe op-ed: Faith reduced to caricature[dead link]
  4. ^ "Chicago Tribune: After Vatican rebuke, nuns celebrated". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  5. ^ a b CatholicVote About
  6. ^ a b Anti-Abortion Ad Scores with 'American Idol'
  7. ^ NY Observer: Anti-Rudy Catholics Plan Their Assault
  8. ^ National Journal: Conservative Catholics' New Advocates[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ BeliefNet: New Fidelis Anti-Abortion, Anti-Gay Marriage Video
  10. ^ NYT: A Fight Among Catholics Over Which Party Best Reflects Church Teachings
  11. ^ [1] Donation Recipients
  12. ^ "CatholicVote.org Homepage – a project of Catholic Alliance". Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on March 2, 2000. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  13. ^ Djupe, Paul A.; Olson, Laura R. (2003). Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. Infobase Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 1438130201.
  14. ^ "CatholicVote.org – an association of Catholic voters in America". Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on September 21, 2002. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  15. ^ "Catholic Vote – Catholic Citizenship". Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on June 9, 2008. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  16. ^ "CatholicVote.com". Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  17. ^ a b c d Gayle, Damien (July 4, 2015). "Anti-gay marriage video by US pressure group CatholicVote plays victim card". The Guardian. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  18. ^ a b c d Mortimer, Caroline (July 6, 2015). "'You are not alone': US religious pressure group releases video for Catholics 'victimised' by gay marriage ruling". The Independent. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  19. ^ a b c "CatholicVote says controversial video sparked outpouring of thanks". Catholic News Agency. July 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  20. ^ Falcon, Russell (2022-06-11). "Catholic group launches 'Hide the Pride' anti-LGBTQ library campaign". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  21. ^ a b NBC rejects pro-life ad using Obama
  22. ^ Facing Tough Washington Climate, Abortion Foes Move Debate Online
  23. ^ McFeely, Tom (2009-02-20). "CNN Punts Pro-Life Obama Ad". National Catholic Register. Circle Media Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  24. ^ "US Issues Mother Teresa Postal Stamp". Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
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