"Justice is both the aim and the intrinsic criterion of all politics." - Pope Benedict God Is Love, 28a

Why are we Arizona Catholic Democrats?
In our secular American system, there are no religious parties, nor should there be. But there are religious people with religious values active in political parties. We Arizona Catholic Democrats believe today that we can find a home and a voice in the Democratic Party as so many of our ancestors have. Click for more »

Why are we Arizona Catholic Democrats?
In our secular American system, there are no religious parties, nor should there be. But there are religious people with religious values active in political parties. We Arizona Catholic Democrats believe today that we can find a home and a voice in the Democratic Party as so many of our ancestors have. Click to hide »

We Catholics can find a home today in the Democratic Party as did our Catholic ancestors, going back to:

…Alfred E. Smith, Governor of New York, and the first Catholic to run for president and continuing through:

…James Farley first National Democratic Chairman in the Roosevelt era,

…Father John A. Ryan, first Catholic priest to offer presidential inaugural prayer and pioneer of American Catholic Social Justice teachings which influenced “The New Deal.”

…Geraldine Ferrero first woman to run for Vice President,

…JFK, first Catholic president,

…Tip O’Neill, first Catholic Speaker of the House

and in our day;

…John Kerry, third Catholic to run for president,

…Nancy Pelosi, first woman Speaker of the House

We also remember that our immigrant ancestors found welcome in the Democratic Party when there was no welcome elsewhere.

For us, to be a Catholic/Democrat is no oxymoron. We stand with the Catholic Social Justice tradition which has found its echo in Democratic legislation: such as anti child labor reform, Social Security, Medicare, human rights and so much more.

We stand with the Catholic tradition of defense of the helpless and the lowly. This includes not only children in the womb, but through all their life stages. We believe that social justice legislation will decrease the need for abortion among the poor who to often resort to it out of economic need. However, we also stand in the tradition of Jesus as he stood with the outcast Samaritan woman at the well. We oppose legislation that would criminalize desperate women who seek abortions.

We believe with the Popes that if we want peace, we must work for justice. And we believe in the traditional Catholic teaching on just war, that war should be the last resort.

We support women’s’ equal place in our society, and indeed we believe the respect given to Mary in our Catholic tradition inspires us to honor women and to seek equal status for women in all aspects of our society.

We believe the Democratic Party should be a big tent and we seek dialog with other Democrats whether they be secular, or of other religious backgrounds, or of none.

Finally we believe in the vision of FDR expressed in 1941 when he looked forward to a world founded upon four essential freedoms:

…freedom of speech

…freedom of worship

…freedom from want

…freedom from fear

As Catholics, we believe that the Document on Religious Freedom given to us by Vatican II correlates with these freedoms..

And we as Catholic Democrats also strive to live in our lives by the mission statement of Jesus:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." LK 4:18-1