New groups

The following are some of the new groups, with abbreviated descriptions from their Web sites.

* Catholics United www.catholics-united.org

Founded 2004 A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to online advocacy of the Catholic social tradition

* Catholic Democrats catholicdemocrats.org

Founded 2004 Concerned Catholics who share an aversion to the current abuses of U.S. military power, the exploitation of social issues to advance the economic interests of a few, and the misuse of our Catholic faith for political gain

* Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good www.catholicsinalliance.org

Founded 2005 Promoting awareness of the Catholic social tradition to Catholics, the media and Americans of all faiths

* Faith in Public Life www.faithinpubliclife.org

Founded 2004 Cosponsor of Barack Obama and John McCain's first joint event of the campaign, the Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion, Aug. 16. The ecumenical group envisions a country in which diverse religious voices for justice and the common good consistently impact public policy, and those who use religion as a tool of division and exclusion do not dominate public discourse.

* Matthew 25 Network www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17292483021

A newly formed political action committee (PAC) organized around the Gospel values laid out in Matthew 25 (the beatitudes). It has endorsed Obama for president.

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