c. 1996 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Criticizing”political posturing”and”ideological positioning”by politicians and policymakers, U.S. Catholic bishops Tuesday (Nov. 12) approved a succinct statement calling for restructuring the American economy to meet the basic needs of the poor both at home and abroad.”We need to be very clear,”said Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash.”Our defense of the poor, our pursuit of economic justice is fundamentally a work of faith. It is Jesus and his church which call us to serve the least of these and defend their lives and dignity.” Skylstad, who serves as chairman of the domestic policy committee of the U.S. Catholic Conference, the social action arm of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), made his comments as the bishops voted without dissent to approve a 10-point”Catholic Framework for Economic Life.” Skylstad said the new statement is not about political platforms or secular economic theories, and not about the Democratic administration or the Republican Congress.”This is about the women who are cleaning our hotel rooms this morning for the minimum wage,”he said.”This is about immigrants who will bus our dishes this afternoon. This is about people who knock on our rectory doors, rely on our food pantries and live in cardboard boxes under bridges. This is about the children dying in Africa this morning.” Approval of the statement, which will be distributed in poster and large postcard forms, came on the second day of the four-day fall meeting of the NCCB.

The economics statement was prompted by the prelates’ growing concern about the U.S. government’s failure to address the needs of the poor both at home and abroad. They have been harsh in their criticism of both President Clinton and Congress for the welfare reform legislation enacted earlier this year and of increased efforts to deny social welfare benefits to immigrants.”The signs of our (economic) failures are all around us,”Skylstad said.”A fourth of our preschoolers grow up poor in the richest nation on Earth”and around the world”35,000 children die every day from hunger and its consequences.” Bishop John Ricard, auxiliary bishop of Baltimore and chairman of the board of Catholic Relief Services, sharply criticized Clinton and the Congress for cutting the amount of U.S. foreign aid.”Increasingly, our foreign policy lacks any hint of the preferential option for the poor and the promotion of human dignity,”Ricard said in a statement.”Compassion is going out of fashion as an element of our foreign aid concerns,”Ricard said.”Marshaling our nation’s economic power and political will for the betterment of the poor overseas must be one of our goals as conference.” Ricard said Tuesday that economic issues would be high on the agenda if the conference’s leadership meets with Clinton, as it often does, before the new Congress begins in January.

The bishops also approved a request by Ricard that NCCB President Bishop Anthony Pilla of Cleveland write Clinton asking him to”provide strong leadership for increasing foreign aid, excluding family planning.” Ricard said Pilla’s letter to Clinton should note next year’s 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan,”the consummate example of positive American engagement in the world.””As we protest _ at times seemingly alone _ our government’s attempts to balance the federal budget on the backs of poor welfare families, so much we object when our leaders fail to pursue the global common good and leave unfilled basic responsibilities to the most vulnerable members of the human family,”Ricard said.

The economic statement is a distillation of”Economic Justice for All,”the bishops’ 10-year-old major pastoral statement on economic issues.”As followers of Jesus Christ and participants in a powerful economy, Catholics in the United States are called to work for greater economic justice in the face of persistent poverty, growing income gaps, and increasing discussion of economic issues in the U.S. and around the world,”the new statement says.”All economic life should be shaped by moral principles,”the new statement continues, arguing that”the economy exists for people, not the other way around.” The statement strikes a middle ground between the free market and government regulation of the economy.”In economic life, free markets have both clear advantages and limits; government has essential responsibilities and limitations; voluntary groups have irreplaceable roles, but cannot substitute for the proper working of the market or just policies of the state,”the bishops said in their statement.”Society has a moral obligation, including governmental action, where necessary, to assure opportunity, meet basic human needs, and pursue justice in economic life.” MJP END ANDERSON