St. Patrick's Cathedral on Election Day. (GSoJ Photo/Alyssa Danigelis)

The Roman Catholic vote remained evenly split between the Republican and the Democrat right up until the polls opened on Tuesday, despite dire warnings from a handful of conservative Catholic bishops that a vote for pro-choice candidate Sen. John Kerry was a sin against God.

The most recent Gallup Poll gave Kerry a slim 50 to 48 lead over Bush among Catholic voters, even after recent media buzz that the Massachusetts Senator's positions oppose Church values.

The New York Times quoted Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Colorado on October 12th saying Catholics who support pro-choice candidates are sinners "cooperating in evil."

The St. Louis Post Dispatch quoted local Archbishop Raymond L. Burke saying Kerry's pro-life position makes him unworthy to receive the Catholic sacrament. "I would have to admonish him not to present himself for Communion," Burke said last January.

Though it is uncertain how many bishops may agree with Chaput and Burke, a number of clergy members have criticized the media for paying too much attention to a small collection of renegade, conservative bishops.

The majority of American bishops agreed this year in a document called "Faithful Citizenship" that Catholics should consider a host of important issues when weighing political candidates. And many Catholics say the church encourages them to vote according to their conscience, rather than according to Church doctrine.

"The media is just out to sell papers," said Bishop Gerald Walsh of New York on the Saturday before elections. "The Church does not think it's a sin to vote for Kerry. We think people should look at both candidates. You have the issues of war, health care and poverty, as well as abortion. It's not right to pigeonhole one issue."

St. Patrick's Cathedral on Election Day. (GSoJ Photo/Alyssa Danigelis)

While the news articles do not suggest that these conservative bishops represent the entire church, critics say that the unique focus on their admonitions makes it appear that abortion is the only issue guiding Catholic voters.

"These bishops think that if we just get rid of abortion the whole world will be okay," said Sister Chris Shank, director of FutureChurch, a progressive Catholic organization in Ohio. Shank said the conservative bishops in the media constitute about eight out of 200. "Catholicism is too complex to be boiled down to one issue," she said.

And even if abortion were the single issue, the Catholic vote wouldn't necessarily go to Bush. "One has to ask whether a vote for Bush would be moral," said Terrence Tilley, a professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Dayton. "More abortions were done under Bush than during the previous four years under Clinton."

Divided Catholics from around the country gathered at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue to worship in unison last Sunday. Standing before the nation's largest and most magnificent Catholic sanctuary, voters said they apply the Church's principles to their own beliefs when making voting decisions.

"The message is vote!" said Richard Jiron, 51, of New Mexico, on the cathedral's steps after mass. Jiron, who is pro-life, cast an early vote for Bush before leaving for New York on Saturday. He noted that St. Patrick's monsignor who delivered the homily that morning was careful to urge parishioners to vote for either candidate.

"We're for Kerry," said Floridian Maria Alvarez, 53, who said Catholics need to make up their own minds about the candidates. "I know he's Catholic and personally he's pro-life, but because he represents a lot of people he's for choice, just like God gives us a choice."

The Catholic vote, always considered crucial in presidential elections, is especially significant this year since Kerry could be the first Catholic president if elected since John F. Kennedy. Catholics represent about 27 percent of the electorate and about one-third of the voting block. No president has ever won the popular vote without winning the Catholic vote.

Democrats have been slowly losing Catholic support since President Ronald Reagan won the Catholic vote in 1980. Some say that Bush's hard stance against abortion, stem cell research, and gay marriage has gained him more of the Catholic vote.

Although most Catholics place the protection of life as their top priority in weighing presidential candidates, opinions differ on how to prioritize those issues. Some say abortion should be the number one life issue, while others say it should not be ranked higher than world hunger and war.

Some believe abortion is unquestionably the most important issue. The legitimacy of war or capital punishment is of arguable importance, said Monsignor William Smith, academic dean of St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, NY. But the church doesn't say either issue is wrong in all cases. Abortion, on the other hand, he said, is always wrong.

Smith said it's not a sin to vote for Kerry, but looking at all the issues, "it would be a little stupid."

But other Catholic leaders are concerned about the media's focus on abortion. The Rev. Dr. John Bucchino, director of pastoral care at Manhattan's Lenox Hill Hospital, said it's impossible for Catholics to prioritize abortion above issues like healthcare, poverty and war.

"Yes, the embryos are innocent, but so are people," said Bucchino, a hospital chaplain, referring to civilians killed in the Iraq war.

The "Faithful Citizenship" document was written by American bishops this year to help Catholics judge political candidates on Catholic principles. The advisory pamphlet makes clear that abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research should be at the top of a list of questions Catholics need to ask about candidates.

But the document clearly does not state that Catholics should let these issues trump others, and it does not place a Catholic Church endorsement on either candidate.

"Believers are called to be a community of conscience within the larger society," the document states, "testing every candidate and party for how they affect human life and dignity, and how they pursue justice and peace."

Even conservative Catholics seem to respect that Catholics have the right to vote for Kerry without committing a sin. As John Newton of Louisville, KY exited St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday, he said there was no question he was voting for Bush.

"It's very important to me to have a pro-life candidate," Newton said. "But I don't think it's a sin to vote for Kerry."