Missing the Point on Poverty

Another great post by Meghan Clark from over at Catholic Moral Theology, which has become my favorite Catholic blog.

She has a very good understanding of the economy and of Catholic Social Teaching and I continually find myself in overall agreement with what she writes.

Full post here.

Highlights:

There has been a lot of discussion this week about the morality of the Ryan Budget. Since Paul Ryan’s statement on subsidiarity, the media and blogs have been full of posts either supporting or correcting Paul Ryan’s use of Catholic social teaching.

This week’s discussion heated up as the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development released 4 key statements/press releases pleading with Congress to “to draw a circle of protection around the programs that serve “the least among us.” when dealing with housing programs, SNAP/food stamps, agriculture and the Child Tax Credit.

There is a beautiful coherence and symmetry to the four statements – they all have one clear message – protect the poor and vulnerable. While they acknowledge (as do we all) that we live in difficult and complex economic times, we cannot in good conscience balance the budget or protect the economy through sacrificing the poor and vulnerable within our communities. In the Letter on Snap, Bishop Blaire reiterates the three key moral guidelines for evaluating the morality of a budget:

1. Every budget decision should be assessed by whether it protects or threatens human life and dignity.
2. A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects “the least of these” (Matthew 25). The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty should come first.
3. Government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to promote the common good of all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to live in dignity in difficult economic times.

Now the Bishop’s letters have gotten quite the response.

The Mission of Catholic Social Teaching

An essay from John Carr via USCCB Media Blog. (I pasted the essay because it isn't long).

The following is an essay by John Carr, Executive Director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Pope John Paul II effectively ended the debate about whether the social mission of the Church is integral or fringe, fundamental or marginal. According to Pope John Paul, “the ‘new evangelization’ which the modern world urgently needs …must include among its essential elements a proclamation of the Church's social doctrine.” Catholic social teaching has “permanent value” and is “genuine doctrine” which enables the Church to “analyze social realities, to make judgments about them and to indicate directions to be taken for the just resolution of the problems involved” (Centesimus Annus, 3, 5). By his words and witness, by his teaching and example, he demonstrated that the Church’s social teaching is at the core of what it is to be a Catholic community of faith.

In three powerful social encyclicals, Centesimus Annus (1991), Laborem Exercens (1981) and Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (1987) Pope John Paul II demonstrated that social teaching is not “a theory, but above all else a basis and motivation for action” (CA, 57). Over three decades, he affirmed, built upon, and advanced Catholic teaching on work and workers, war and peace, the role and limitations of markets and government and care for creation. The defense of human dignity and the call to solidarity were at the center of his papacy. He reminded us again and again that we are all members of one human family, sisters and brothers with undeniable dignity as children of God.

Throughout his papacy, John Paul worked persistently and consistently to defend life, promote justice and pursue peace and he applied Catholic moral principles to the pressing issues of his time: life and death, war and peace, economic justice and environment, debt and development. He led the Church’s opposition to abortion and euthanasia, cloning and capital punishment. He worked tirelessly for peace in the Middle East and religious freedom around the world.

Pope John Paul II made clear there were limitations and dangers in the application of Catholic social teaching. It cannot be used to justify violence or class struggle. It should not be misused for partisan political purposes or to justify some ideological agenda. However, he was absolutely clear that the Church is called to defend life, promote justice and pursue peace as an integral part of its vocation in the world.

Any believer who listened to the teaching of John Paul II or watched his leadership, saw and heard with new clarity and power that the defense of human life and dignity and the pursuit of justice and peace are at the heart of what it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and member of His Church.