Raymond L. Flynn, who was Boston's mayor for nine years before becoming U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, is embarking on a new venture that will combine two of his passions: politics and his Roman Catholic faith.
Flynn has taken over leadership of the Catholic Alliance, a lay-run political advocacy group that was founded as an arm of the Christian Coalition before going independent three years ago. He replaced Keith Fornier, a deacon and lawyer, who resigned earlier this year from the non-church-affiliated group.
Tony Likins, a Washington political consultant and Catholic Alliance board member, called Flynn's appointment "providential."
"Catholic Alliance was seeking a higher profile, and Flynn's combination of political experience and pro-life credentials made him an ideal candidate," Likins said. "I think we all agreed we needed a higher-profile individual who embodied what we were trying to do to change the culture of death in this country. That high profile helped us to get the attention of the media and the public to what we're trying to do."
Flynn, 59, said his goal is to organize and energize Catholics into a formidable voting bloc that the Democratic and Republican parties would have to reckon with.
"The Catholic vote, arguably the most important swing vote in America, is clearly up for grabs," he said. "I hope the Catholic vote does not divide itself. It needs to be a strong voting bloc, and I hope that's what I'm able to do, to make the Catholic vote a strong voting bloc in America, not based on parties or a candidate per se, but on issues that are important to Catholics."
Forging a bloc, Flynn said, will involve "empowering Catholics, getting them more involved in the mainstream of political activity, particularly immigrants, whether it be people from Southeast Asia or the Hispanic community," he said. "Those are things we can do in a very nonpartisan way."
Flynn describes the political philosophy he will bring to the job as "pro-life, pro-poor, pro-family.
"Which is not just my political philosophy," he said. "It also happens to be the philosophy of the Catholic Church. If anybody's got a beef with Ray Flynn, they'd better talk to Jesus Christ about that one."
Obviously, said Likins, "he is a gifted, spiritual man who is in love with the Lord and in love with his faith."
