Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster has pleaded with Catholics to engage with politics ahead of the United Kingdom’s general election on May 7.
The England and Wales bishops have produced a four page letter which asks Catholics to consider some fundamental ethical questions before they vote.
The letter is to be distributed in parishes this weekend.
Cardinal Nichols said that the document was principally concerned with solidarity, both with the wider world and the poor.
But he said that life issues such as abortion and euthanasia were the highest priority.
At a press conference at the launch of the document, Cardinal Nichols told Catholics: “Stir yourselves.”
“We’re citizens, we’ve been called to play a part in this society,” he said.
“We have these ten weeks to raise the game and to make sure that some of these debates address the crucial issues.”