(RNS) As Congress embarks on high-stakes budget negotiations to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are urging elected officials not to target programs for the poor and instead raise taxes and reduce defense spending. By David Gibson

WASHINGTON (RNS) A week after Republican congressman Paul Ryan claimed his Catholic faith inspired the cost-cutting budget plan passed by the House, the nation’s Catholic bishops reiterated their demands that the budget protect the poor and said the GOP measure "fails to meet these moral criteria." By David Gibson.