Fifty priests and several hundred sisters and laity from Western Pennsylvania have signed an ad in the Pittsburgh Catholic, saying that voting decisions cannot be reduced to the single issue of abortion.

The ad is in response to the bishops and conservative lay organizations that have declared it wrong for a Catholic to vote for a candidate who does not publicly oppose legal abortion, such as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry.

The ad, sponsored by Pax Christi USA, a 60-year-old group advocating pacifism and nonviolence, says, "Members of the media -- and indeed a few of our own religious leaders -- do a great disservice to our church and nation when they attempt to use one or another issue as the benchmark for Catholic identity.

"A candidate for office must understand that the Church stands against any policy or course of action which diminishes life, dignity or the rights of the human person: abortion, capital punishment, war, scandalous poverty, denial of health care, mistreatment of immigrants and racism to name but a few. All are essential issues to a 'pro-life' voter."

The Rev. Regis Ryan, parochial vicar at St. John of God in McKees Rocks and executive director of Focus on Renewal, a social service center, said he hoped the ad had a "calming effect" on Catholics.

"There is certainly nothing doctrinal about voting for Kerry or voting for [President] Bush, but when you listen to some of the statements of some of the bishops, it seems like doctrine," he said.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, the highest-ranking Roman Catholic prelate in Colorado, for example, has said a vote for a candidate like Mr. Kerry who supports abortion rights or embryonic stem cell research would be a sin that must be confessed before receiving Communion.

Most Pittsburgh priests who signed the ad are well known for advocacy of liberal causes, but there were surprises. Among them was the Rev. Michael Salvagna, a retreat leader at St. Paul Monastery who is popular with conservative Catholics. He was unavailable for comment.

A representative of the Kerry campaign alerted the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to the ad. But the Rev. Bernie Survil, a Greensburg priest, said it should not be read as an endorsement of Kerry.

"It is nonpartisan. There is no mention of either candidate, nor does it mention parties," said Survil, who noted that he has marched against abortion. Pax Christi opposes abortion.

The ad cites statements of the U.S. bishops regarding a broad range of social issues the church is concerned about. But many statements by the bishops also argue that issues such as abortion, which involve state-sanctioned, unprovoked taking of human life, are paramount because other rights are useless without the right to life, said Susan Rauscher, secretary for pastoral and social concerns for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

"The text of the ad is accurate in its quotes of the bishops. But the nuance [on the varying importance of issues] is glossed over," she said.

Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl has written on why the church considers abortion and related issues to be of paramount concern, but has stopped short of saying it is the only issue on which Catholics should base their vote. And memos that leaked from the Vatican this summer also stopped short of saying it is always wrong to vote for a candidate who supports legal abortion.

"If you're voting for a candidate because they support abortion, that is in fact problematic," Rauscher said. "However, if you vote for a candidate who happens to support abortion, but your conscience moves you to vote for that candidate for other reasons, that falls into another category."

The Association of Pittsburgh Priests, a liberal Catholic group that includes lay members, has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow, where members will call on the faithful to "obey your conscience" when voting. The group said in a news release that "it will be asserted that Catholics are not single issue voters and will look at a broad spectrum of issues before casting their vote."