Christian Coalition Campaign Seeks to Recruit Catholics

Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition is trying to attract more Roman Catholic members.

The coalition, a politically powerful offshoot of the religious broadcaster’s 1988 presidential campaign, until now has appealed mainly to evangelical Christians.

But it is about to start a spinoff group in an attempt to boost Catholic membership from about 250,000 to at least 1 million by 2000, said Ralph Reed, the coalition’s executive director.

The group, based in Chesapeake, Va., has about 1.7 million people on its mailing lists now.

Its new Catholic Alliance will have a panel of Catholic lay leaders, a staff in Washington and a range of activities geared toward Catholic voters. It will get its kickoff just before Pope John Paul II’s visit to the United States on Oct. 4.

Reed said Catholics and evangelicals can have enormous impact if they unite around core issues, such as fighting abortion and pornography and promoting government-funded vouchers to help parents finance private and parochial school education for their children.

National and local leaders in the Catholic Church said bishops aren’t likely to offer their blessings to the movement because they already provide moral guidance on political issues.

“Everybody has a right to organize in whatever way they choose. The test will be who joins,” said John Carr, director of the U.S. Catholic Conference’s office of social development and world peace. “Catholics already have a place. It’s called the Catholic Church.”