Roman Catholic bishops in the United States have waded into the presidential election campaign with a warning to voters that they must heed the Church's teaching on issues such as abortion or risk their eternal salvation.

According to a statement adopted yesterday at a meeting in Baltimore, voters who back candidates because he or she supports “an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism" amounts to “formal cooperation in grave evil.”

The bishops defined what they called "threats to the sanctity and dignity of human life" as human cloning, embryonic stem cell research, racism, torture and genocide.

The statement – "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" – is an update of similar documents that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has offered to its flock before every presidential race since 1976.

The document does not recommend specific candidates or policies, but makes clear both to voters and potential candidates that their votes affect more than just civic life.

“Political choices faced by citizens have an impact on general peace and prosperity and also may affect the individual’s salvation,” the bishops said. “Similarly, the kinds of laws and policies supported by public officials affect their spiritual well-being.”

While the 30-plus-page document touches widely on Catholic social justice teaching, the bishops said that fighting abortion should be a priority.

“The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life is always wrong and is not just one issue among many,” the bishops said. “It must always be opposed.”

Catholics make up one-quarter of the US electorate, but do not vote as a bloc, and often do not follow the bishops’ political guidance. Surveys indicate that most do not choose candidates based on that person’s position on abortion.

In the current election season, none of the leading presidential candidates has been reliably anti-abortion. In fact the Republican frontrunner, Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, is a Catholic who supports abortion rights.

In some cases, Catholics may vote for a candidate with a position contrary to church teaching, but only for “truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences”, according to the statement.

The document did not address whether Catholics who violate this guidance should continue to receive Holy Communion.

Nicholas DiMarzio, the Bishop of Brooklyn, who helped draft the document, said the bishops are simply asking Catholics to “examine their consciences”.

“When you look at eternal salvation, God is the only judge,” said Bishop DiMarzio. “All we have the ability to do is to warn people...It is not a voter guide."

The document makes clear the broad concerns that keep Catholics from finding a true political home with either the Democrats or Republicans.

The bishops said helping the poor should be a top priority in government, providing health care, taking in refugees and protecting the rights of workers, and the bishops highlight the need for environmental protection.

However, they also opposed same-sex marriage, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research, in addition to their staunch anti-abortion position.

The prelates, who oppose the death penalty, declared that torture is “always wrong,” and expressed “serious moral concerns" about “preventive use of military force.”

But in a very brief floor debate before the vote, they heightened their language on terrorism, adding a sentence acknowledging “the continuing threat of fanatical extremism and global terror”.

In recent years, some independent Catholics groups have been distributing their own voter booklets, with theological conservatives emphasising abortion and liberal-leaning groups highlighting church teaching on war, poverty and social justice. The bishops urged Catholics to only use voter resources approved by the church.

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