I WOULD like to share some thoughts from the Catholic bishops of England and Wales.

The Gospel is radical and challenging. It is the saving message of Jesus Christ.

It is a way of life. It teaches us to value each person: the parent struggling with the pressures of family life; the person striving to combat poverty; the teacher inspiring students to seek the truth; the stranger fleeing violence and persecution in their homeland; the prisoner in his cell in search of redemption; the child in a distant land claiming the right to a future; and the frail elderly person needing care and facing the frontier of death.

Christians are called to work for a world shaped by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel proclaims the mercy of God and invites us steadfastly to love God and our neighbour.

Our relationship with God leads to the desire to build a world in which respect, dignity, equality, justice, and peace are our primary concerns.

At this General Election we are asked to think about the kind of society we want here at home and abroad.

Whom you vote for is a matter for you alone. Voting in a general election should seldom, if ever, be based on a single issue.

Elections involve a whole range of issues, some without doubt more central than others, particularly those concerned with the dignity and value of human life and human flourishing.

- Father Mark Hogan.