CD: It seems that the bishops’ document has placed abortion at the forefront of Catholic political concerns, and it stated that it is acceptable for a Catholic voter to refrain from voting at all if neither candidate demonstrates support for pro-life issues. Do you think this is a legitimate choice in our democratic society?

MELADY: Well, certainly the bishops have an obligation to speak, and they’re speaking in a democratic society and in very clear terms. I, as a Catholic, made a decision to align myself to Mitt Romney before the bishop’s statement came out, but I had no doubt that he’d fit into the broad scope. Now with regard to the abortion issue, I don’t know if it’s any stronger than it was four years ago. Actually, I think that this is the third time that that’s been an issue of some importance in the document. For those who want it to be “you must be this” or “must be that” that’s not the vocabulary of that statement.

CD: So you would say that the bishops are still advocating for the primacy of conscience in voting?

MELADY: Well I think that conscience plays a major role, and again I’m not a theologian, but I think conscience is an important part of the statement. I had to reflect on [the statement] and to think about it, and that’s why it came out just about a full year before our elections.

CD: Now once a voter has thought about it and reflected on the issues, if one were to decide that neither candidate fits their beliefs, do you think it’s a legitimate choice to refrain from voting, or do you think that we have a duty as American citizens in a democracy to choose to actively vote in an election?

MELADY: I think if some people decided not to go for A or for B that we would respect them for that. But I think, as you said, [we have] a responsibility to citizenship, and I would wish they would. We live in a pluralistic society, and maybe we won’t find a candidate that meets all our needs one-hundred percent, but meets them more than the other candidate. Or it could be that neither of them please us, and therefore we don’t vote. I think for someone who’s thought about it carefully, and really doesn’t feel like they can vote, I think we can respect that person.

CD: What role if any has your own faith life played in your work as diplomat and educator and ambassador?

MELADY: I’ve always been Catholic, and while serving as ambassador my third post was to the Vatican, but I was also in Burundi, and I saw the challenges of developing societies. It was a great experience to say, “What can we do to end the triple curse of poverty, illiteracy, and disease?” I had the advantage of studying [my faith] during my first degree at Duquesne in Pittsburgh, and during my masters and Ph.D. studies at the Catholic University of America, and working at Catholic universities. It’s played a role.

CD: Drawing from your background in education, do you seen governor Romney as being able to take America’s educational system in the right direction?

MELADY: [Romney] himself was a very good student and that seems to run in his family. And he knows about the whole change that’s taking place. Thomas L. Friedman wrote about it in The World is Flat — the fact that all the countries that we manufacture and sell to are going to manufacture and sell back to us, and the necessity of adjusting to the impact of modern communications and technology. He understands all that, and of course the way to answer that is education.

CD: Could you elaborate on what you mean by education as an answer to these trade issues?

MELADY: Just think of New England, where I’m from. I’m half Irish and half French-Canadian, and both my grandfathers came as immigrants and worked in the mills of Eastern Connecticut. Now when I go home to visit cousins, all I see are old mills falling apart. That whole industry has left the United States, and so we have the choice of either crying about it or doing something, and essentially we did something in terms of building other skills. But it’s been a challenge, and it’s education that will help us meet that challenge. From what I read about [Romney], he has the foresight to meet that kind of thing.

CD: What about the challenges that are facing Africa today? As far as I know Romney has been quiet on the topic, but as a former ambassador to two countries on that continent, how would you assess his approach to it?

MELADY:I don’t know if anyone’s really spoken on what I’d call the developing societies. I think it will come up.