With two wings and one heart, the Church flies

January is Poverty Awareness Month. To help raise awareness among Catholics of poverty and its underlying issues, USCCB has updated its website, www.PovertyUSA.org, and launched a Spanish counterpart, www.PobrezaUSA.org. Our blog is also running a series of posts by guest bloggers reflecting on poverty in our country and the world today. Today’s post is by Monsignor Charles Pope.

 

As a priest and blogger, one of my greater sorrows is the experience of the great divide that exists in the two “wings” of the Church. In one wing are those who engage the great moral struggles of our day related to abortion, the proper biblical understanding of human sexuality, marriage and family, and questions related to euthanasia. In the other wing, those who engage the great social and moral issues related to poverty, economic justice, solidarity, unity and mutual respect.

The Church needs both wings to fly, to be credible, biblical and authentic. I live for the day when those passionate in either wing will come to esteem the work of the other, grateful that some engage in caring for the poor, so others can engage in protecting the unborn, that some are engaging the life issues, so others can engage the critical needs of the poor, the imprisoned, the marginalized and those isolated by poverty, mental health, disability, and other struggles. When both wings work together, the church soars.

Both wings, both battles are essential. They are really one battle for human dignity. The Church has an obligation to proclaim the Good News and Kingdom of God in all aspects. We must, as St. Paul says, “proclaim the whole counsel of God.”  And thus we need each other, we need the two wings.

More than ever the poor, the needy, the unborn, our families, our youth and all who are vulnerable in any way need and deserve our Catholic unity, need the whole counsel of God. We cannot allow politics and ideology to go on dividing us and turning us against one another.

Poverty involves complexity, and reasonable men and women differ on the most effective solutions. But here too, the poor need our unity, not our squabbling. Catholic solutions admit of diversity and transcend political categories. We need more willingness in the “wings” to surrender our cynicism and accept that we all want the same thing: that the Kingdom of God be advanced.

I have spent my nearly 25 years as a priest in African American parishes and many of my parishioners would be clear advocates of vigorous government involvement as a solution to poverty. Many can personally attest that it was largely the federal government that served to protect their rights and provide them opportunities for economic advancement in the last 60 years.

I also serve the Traditional Latin Mass community, which tends (along with many who read my blog), to be troubled by what they see as excessive federal involvement in solutions to poverty. They point to the decline in the family structure in poorer black and minority sectors and to the impersonal nature of government that robs the poor of dignity and responsibility and creates a growing “permanent underclass.”

Both insights are important, and a truly Catholic solution will seek to weave together broad-based solidarity with the poor that includes public, private and ecclesial partnerships.

Subsidiarity does not mean there is no government or federal involvement. But it does encourage us to craft solutions that engage the local level vigorously and involve the poor directly in solutions. It also insists on a growing sense of personal responsibility that the poor must have in their own advancement, and that we are all to have in the care of the poor persons we personally know.  

The Church needs two wings to fly. The poor and vulnerable need our unity and are gravely harmed by our divisions and squabbling. Two wings: life and family, love for the poor and hunger for justice. Two wings to fly, but one heart that unites the love of God and neighbor.

---

Monsignor Charles Pope is pastor at Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian Parish in Washington and blogs for the archdiocese and Our Sunday Visitor.

Catholics Care. Catholics Vote: Conscience Formation by the Numbers

Numbers can be cold and impersonal. They lack the depth and nuance of words and ideas. "I feel like I'm just a number," a person struggling with a large or bureaucratic system might say.

But numbers can also be uncompromising. They force us to confront realities that can be dizzying, unavoidable and downright unwelcome. Someone who's seen the numbers no longer has plausible deniability.

In Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the bishops similarly hold up six areas that often have unpleasant realities -- and equally unpleasant numbers -- associated with them. These are the issues, they say, that should carry special weight with the voting Catholic's conscience:

• Abortion and threats to the lives and dignity of the vulnerable, sick or unwanted
• Efforts to force Catholic health care, education and social services to violate their consciences or stop serving those in need
• Efforts to redefine the institution of marriage
• The economic crisis, unemployment, poverty, and addressing debt in ways that protectpoor persons
• A broken immigration system
• Moral questions raised by war, terror and violence, and the need for peace, particularly in the Middle East

Each of these areas simultaneously meshes and clashes with different political persuasions and cultural assumptions in the United States. And each of these can be subsequently aggrandized or rationalized away to suit these political and cultural preferences. This is why the bishops call on Catholics to form their consciences -- through prayer and reflecting on Scripture and Catholic teaching, but also by studying the issues.

On that last point, it's amazing what a few numbers will do.

On the direct taking of innocent human life, there's the estimated 53 million abortions that have occurred since Roe v. Wade legalized it in 1973. There's also the rather abrupt zero for the number of treatments for "incurable" diseases that have been developed with stem cells harvested from human embryos that were destroyed to obtain them. (Conversely, the number developed using adult stem cells, which cause no harm to the stem cell donor, is 73.)

On the question of giving Catholic institutions the choice between violating their consciences or going out of business, the number that most vividly illustrates the impact this would have on society is probably 1 in 6, the number of the total people hospitalized in the United States every year who are cared for in a Catholic hospital.

Looking at the care provided by Catholic charities, there's housing services to 497,732 people, adoption services to 38,829, addiction services to 81,866, pregnancy services to 93,542, not to mention 110,268 home delivered meals and 1,420,492 fed in soup kitchens.

On the bishops's promotion and defense of marriage, the most significant statistic is probably that children in single-parent families comprise 27 percent of all American children, yet they count for 62 percent of all poor children.

Bridging into poverty, there's the fact that 16.2 million U.S. children live in homes that can't provide enough food for all their members at some point during the year. There's the official U.S. poverty rate of 15.1 percent, the highest it's been in 17 years. There's the 10 months that the average unemployed or underemployed person spends looking for work.

Speaking of the economy, there's also the estimated $7 billion that undocumented immigrants pay into Social Security annually since it's believed that 50-75 percent of them pay federal, state and local taxes.

Finally, in international justice and peace, there's the fact that 90 percent of people killed or maimed by landmines and cluster munitions are non-military civilians. Additionally, 30-40 percent of landmine victims are children. There's also the 1 percent of the federal budget that goes to international aid or the 0.5 percent that goes to poverty-focused assistance. There are the 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads, or 700 launchers, in the hands of both the United States and Russia seven years after the ratification of the New START Treaty. And there are the over 10,000 people killed as a result of violence in Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Bahrain last year.

After a while, numbers start to run together, and so often they only tell part of the story ("There are lies, damned lies and statistics," the saying goes). However, the issues raised by the bishops in their call to political responsibility have real human dimensions and statistical realities behind them that should prompt Catholics to do their homework and adjust their consciences accordingly.

(Sources by paragraph: 1. Guttmacher Institute; USCCB Pro-Life Activities; www.stemcellresearch.org; 2. Catholic Health Association; 3. Catholic Charities USA report; 4. Marriage Unique for a Reason; 5. USDA; USCCB Justice, Peace and Human Development; 6. USCCB Migration and Refugee Services; 7. USCCB Justice Peace and Human Development; New York Times; The Economist; UNHCR; Iraq Body Count database.)

Health Care Site (and Videos) Up!

We announced on Friday that the Conference has launched a Web page promoting the U.S. bishops' position on health care reform.

Along with the various backgrounders, letters from bishops and other information on the topic, the site features a handful of strong Web videos with USCCB staff explaining aspects of Catholic teaching on health care reform.

First is Kathy Saile, director of Domestic Social Development, who gives an overview of the issue.



Following this video, Richard Doerflinger, associate director of Pro-Life Activities, elaborates on protecting the life and dignity of every person by providing some history and context for how abortion fits into the health care reform debate.



Doerflinger gets even more specific in the next video in which he explores the concerns the bishops have with the current House health care reform bill.



He then speaks to the whole issue of health care from a Catholic perspective that is in favor of reform, in favor of universal coverage that includes the poor and immigrants, but which also defends human life from conception till natural death. The way he unifies these ideas as part of a consistent, life-affirming ethic is well done.



Finally, Doerflinger addresses what Catholics can do, noting the need to get involved in the discussion and stand together, saying yes to health care reform, but reform that protects the life and dignity of every person.

Social Encyclical Primer

Since it looks like Pope Benedict's long-awaited social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, will be appearing any day now (he reportedly signed it Monday), it's probably a good time to take a look at the history of Catholic social teaching, specifically as it has been expressed through papal encyclicals.

Here are the highlights:

Rerum Novarum (Of New Things) 1891, Pope Leo XIII -- essentially the Big Bang of Catholic social teaching, truly groundbreaking, and the standard that popes have looked back to ever since (see below). This encyclical tackles the turmoil surrounding labororers in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, touching on issues including socialism, unbridled capitalism, a living wage, the relationship between laborer and employer, and the relationship between classes. Pope Leo also makes a first mention of the preferential option for the poor.

Quadragesimo Anno (After Forty Years) 1931, Pope Pius XI -- following Rerum Novarum by exactly 40 years, this encyclical offers an update on the state of labor and industrialization, also offering strong critiques of communism, unrestrained capitalism and classism.

Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher) 1961, Pope John XXIII -- issued 70 years after Rerum Novarum, this encyclical looks to the Church as the "Mother and Teacher," calling the world to salvation and better social relationships with one another. It looks at science and technology, noting both their power to improve the human condition, but also to limit human freedoms, calling on governments to safeguard against this and ensure human rights. The encyclical calls on wealthier nations to help poorer ones. It also criticizes ideologies (not specifically naming communism) that promise to create a paradise in this world, while disregarding religion.

Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) 1963, Pope John XXIII -- issued only two months before the pope's death, this encyclical is the first ever to be directed to "all men of good will," instead of just the world's Catholics. In a response to the Cold War, the encyclical outlines necessary conditions for a lasting world peace, looking at the rights of individuals, the relationships between individuals and states, the relationships between states, and the relationship between leaders and the whole world.

Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples) 1967, Pope Paul VI -- this encyclical, which Benedict's new encyclical is believed to echo, looks at the economy on a global level and addresses the rights of workers to unionize and to have secure employment, decent working conditions.

Laborem Exercens (On Human Work) 1981, Pope John Paul II -- issued in honor of the 90th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, this encyclical once again looks at the rights and dignity of workers, with emphases including disabled workers, emigration, materialism, and the spirituality of work.

Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concern) 1987, Pope John Paul II -- this encyclical honored Populorum Progressio on its 20th anniversary, offering a then-contemporary reading of the challenges first addressed in the earlier encyclical.

Centesimus Annus (The Hundredth Year) 1991, Pope John Paul II -- on the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, John Paul II reflected on the current state of issues that Leo XIII had assessed in his day. Leo XIII had issued warnings about socialism before it had developed into a movement. John Paul II wrote in the immediate wake of the fall of communism.

Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) 1995, Pope John Paul II -- an affirmation of the gift of human life and the need to protect it, this encyclical dealt with widespread abortion, the threat of euthanasia and renewed use of the death penalty.

Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) 2005, Pope Benedict XVI -- Benedict's first encyclical, that could have been an abstract or scholarly treatise, instead dug deep into the concept of love and cited the connections between love of God and love of neighbor. Pope Benedict said the Church could no more neglect charity than it could Scripture or the sacraments and even called charity a manifestation of Trinitarian love.

Caritas In Veritate (Charity in Truth) 2009, Pope Benedict XVI -- anticipated since 2007, this encyclical is believed to follow up on the themes of Populorum Progressio. Dealing with the ethics of contemporary economics, it's reasonable to think that the global economic crisis will weigh in heavily on what the pope has to say.