Rome, Italy (LifeNews.com) -- A top Italian Catholic cardinal says pro-life values should guide the decisions Catholic voters make in the voting booth when comparing candidates. Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the head of the Italian bishops' conference, said pro-life values are non-negotiable and they should take precedence over other political issues.

His comments came during his inaugural address after he was installed as the new leader of the bishops' organization.

Pointing out that the Catholic Church has always placed a high priority on pro-life principles, Cardinal Bagnasco said, "Each of us is called to make decisions in light of these fundamental values, since we are dealing with the values that have always constituted the very being of the human person."

He challenged those who would say elections are not "a field that is relevant to the Church as such" and, according to a Zenit report, cited a speech Pope Benedict XVI gave at the bishops' conference in Verona.

The Catholic Church leader said "political and legislative choices that contradict the fundamental values and anthropological principles and ethical roots of the nature of human beings" should be strenuously opposed by Catholics worldwide.

"We should not be surprised or scandalized that the Church reaffirms the moral values that come from the Christian faith," he added, according to Zenit.

He called on all Catholics to oppose "everything that is opposed to life itself, such as every type of homicide, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, even voluntary suicide."