Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Catholic Church's single-minded obsession with abortion politics since 1973 led to a revival of a conservative movement within the church that in the past decade or so led the church to involve itself in secular politics.
Some bishops have been so bold as to go so far as to tell parishioners from the pulpit that it is a "sin" to vote for a Democrat because they support a woman's constitutional right of privacy to make health care decisions in consultation with her physician. I suppose the all-male Catholic church hierarchy views women as wards of the church, and women should consult the church for medical advice instead. (And don't even get me started about the church's silence and cover-up of widespread child sexual abuse by pedophile priests. That certainly was not part of church doctrine).
But the Catholic Church has a much older tradition, the social justice movement. It is a part of Catholic social teaching, which admittedly differs from the secular social justice movement based on the concepts of human rights and equality, and involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation and income redistribution (i.e., equality of opportunity). The church's involvement in the social justice movement reached its apex in the 1960s, and began a steady decline after Roe v. Wade (1973).
It turns out that there are still some old school social justice warriors in the Catholic Church. Think Progress reports that dozens of faculty members from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and other Catholic universities have sent a letter to "Weeper of the House" John Boehner, a practicing Catholic, challenging his willingness to “gut” social programs while protecting “new tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.” Catholic Scholars To Boehner: Your Agenda Defies ‘Church’s Most Ancient Moral Teachings’ On Helping Poor:
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will give the commencement address at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. this weekend.
* * *
[Faculty members and other Catholic scholars] write:
Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.
The 2012 budget you shepherded to passage in the House of Representatives guts long-established protections for the most vulnerable members of society. It is particularly cruel to pregnant women and children, gutting Maternal and Child Health grants and slashing $500 million from the highly successful Women Infants and Children nutrition program. When they graduate from WIC at age 5, these children will face a 20% cut in food stamps. The House budget radically cuts Medicaid and effectively ends Medicare. It invokes the deficit to justify visiting such hardship upon the vulnerable, while it carves out $3 trillion in new tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.
The letter goes on to cite a separate letter from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, written last month, which also raised moral issues with the GOP budget. “A just framework for future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons,” the bishops wrote, adding:
Converting Medicare into a voucher program could shift rising health care costs to vulnerable seniors and those who are poor without controlling these costs. We also fear the human and social costs of substantial cuts to programs that serve families working to escape poverty, especially food and nutrition, child development and education, and affordable housing.
Indeed, according to official Vatican doctrine, “The responsibility for attaining the common good, besides falling to individual persons, belongs also to the State.” “Tax revenues and public spending take on crucial economic importance,” the Vatican guidance continues, because “[j]ust, efficient and effective public financing will have very positive effects.”
“Speaker Boehner’s budget eviscerates vital programs that protect the poor, the elderly, the homeless and at-risk pregnant women and children. This is not pro-life,” Stephen Schneck, Director of the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at Catholic and a signatory of the letter, said in press release. The Church has also voiced support for labor unions.
Wow, who knew? If the Catholic Church is ready to return to its social justice movement, I might have to start attending church again.
UPDATE: Faith in Public Life has a full copy of the letter and the list of signatories.
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Sarcasm is lost on some people.
blogtucson: No “recruiting ploy” here. It was AZBlueMeanie who first stated that he “might have to start attending church again” due to the Church’s recent emphasis on issues of economic justice. I took him at his word, and merely pointed out that he would be welcome to do so but that he shouldn’t expect the emphasis on economic justice to be associated with a reduced emphasis on the protection of unborn life. Under Catholic social doctrine, it would be absurd to have one without the other.
I have issues with the Catholic Church for allowing from the pulpit a remark such as “voting for a democrat” is a sin. Is it then not a sin to churn out (and protect) pedophiles. (glass houses)
I am encouraged that the CC is taking a stand on the 1984-ish destruction of this country and it is gratifying to include their support with the MAJORITY of the American citizens.
However, if Mickey suggests that with this support we all need to rejoin the Church en masse, is now sounds like a recruiting ploy.
There is a reason the flock is dwindling and it has nothing to do with a costumed boogyman.
“Wow, who knew? If the Catholic Church is ready to return to its social justice movement, I might have to start attending church again.”
That’s great, and I encourage you to do so. Many people have been drawn to the Church by its rich social teachings and its long tradition of advocating for political and economic justice. However, if you expect the Church to abandon its opposition to abortion, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. The Church considers the defense of unborn life to BE a social justice issue; there is a continuity between its position on abortion and its positions on capital punishment, torture, preemptive war, and the preferential option for the poor. Admittedly, there has arisen a division in the American Church between “pro-life Catholics and “peace and justice Catholics,” but this is merely the product of the dualistic nature of American politics. If you read any papal document on social justice issues, you will find that this division has no basis on Catholic doctrine; an authentic understanding of Catholic social teaching reveals that being pro-life and being pro-social justice are one and the same thing.
So, again, I encourage you to return to the Church, and to study and reflect upon its social teachings. Pope Benedict’s recent encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate,” is a great place to start. Both our Church and our country would be well-served by a more widespread understanding of and advocacy for a Consistent Ethic of Life, from the womb to the tomb.
God bless!