The Catholic Church has been losing followers by the millions, but it is now trying to pick up some support on the road. To do so, the Vatican has released a new list of “Ten Commandments.” It is not necessarily a new version of moral guidelines for the faithful, but rather a list of rules it hopes will bring back civility on the roads and, in the process, some new relevance to the church.

In other words, the Catholic Church believes that things like road rage and driving under the influence of alcohol should be added to abortion, birth control, divorce, gay marriage and homosexuality as moral issues that need to be addressed.

Like the famous set of rules written,  according to the Bible, by God and presented by Moses on two engraved pieces of stone to the people of Israel, these commandments are intended to serve as a guide for the faithful to follow while behind the wheel of a vehicle. However, they were presented in a much more mundane manner -- through a document intended for distribution to bishops around the world.

“Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road”

1. You shall not kill.

2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.

5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

7. Support the families of accident victims.

8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

10. Feel responsible toward others.

Anyone who has been to Vatican City would probably understand what compelled the church to come up with a list like this. Crossing alone onto St. Peter's Square from Via Della Conciliazione, with the taxis swishing by, is an act of defiance. A little spiritual support would also be helpful while driving in some cities around the world where road signs seem more like suggestions than rules.

Being stuck on the freeway for hours has been mentioned by some experts as one of the leading causes of stress. Stress definitely can lead to some rude behavior on the road. Nos. 5 and 8 on the list of commandments are particularly interesting. You can't help but wonder who ever needed a car to express his or her power and domination and commit an occasional sin. And as far as bringing together guilty motorists and victims to experience forgiveness, to forgive is a virtue, but I would imagine the last thing you'd want to do would be get together with the person who wrecked your car, ran over your dog or cut you off at the exit.

The “Ten Commandments” for drivers were presented by Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the office for migrants and itinerant people at the Vatican, who cited alarming figures from the World Health Organization as his motivation. There are an estimated 1.2 million deaths on roads around the world each year, and about 50 million injuries. No doubt many of those are a result of recklessness, discourtesy and irresponsibility.

It probably is not the role of the Catholic Church to attempt to bring civility to the roads. But it wouldn't be a bad idea if motor vehicle departments adopted some of these guidelines for people of all religions and included them in instruction manuals at driving schools around the world. To not do so would be sinful.

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(Maria Elena Salinas is the author of “I AM MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER: LIVING A LIFE WITHOUT SECRETS.” Reach her at www 
.mariaesalinas.com)

© 2007 by Maria Elena Salinas

Distributed by King Features Syndicate