Wow, it's overwhelming to try to include all the Catholic websites related to understanding political and social issues in light of our faith. Beautiful and inspiring, yes. But it also provokes questions such as "Why are there 6 Catholic news agencies?" as well as "Do all these Catholic advocacy organizations and publications know each other exists?" Incidentally, I suspect the answer to the latter could shed some light on the former..

Another thought that comes to mind is--maybe we Catholics should be spending as much time doing as we are writing! I know, I know, I know... but I still think there's some truth to that. And that thought afflicts my own conscience as well, as I write this entry for so few readers.

I also began to wonder what possible justification there could be for limiting the listings in the sidebars of this site to (1) Catholic sites which are (2) related to political issues. Aren't secular organizations and publications worth our attention too? Shouldn't politically active Catholics be rooted in faith, prayer, and culture? (..so that those sorts of sites should be listed too, perhaps more prominently than the explicitly political ones..)

The best rationale I could come up with has to do with the likely audience of this site (if any). On the one hand, there could be Catholics who are politically active but wouldn't describe themselves as, say, devout. The links gathered here cater to their curiosity about political affairs, and most of them have the potential to draw a casual Catholic into a deeper understanding and engagement with our faith, with the Word. On the other hand, there could be devout Catholics who are disengaged from "the social question", unfamiliar with Catholic Social Teaching, who stumble upon this site and are drawn into faithful citizenship through one of these Catholic sites.

Either scenario would be awesome. Please let me know if you have any Catholic (or key non-Catholic Christian) politically-related sites to suggest that we are missing, or perhaps other ideas for furthering the above aims..