US bishops' conference spokesmen urge Congress not to cut spending on welfare, relief programs
March 03, 2015
Two spokesmen for the US bishops' conference have joined in a message to Congress, urging lawmakers to preserve funding for federal programs serving the poor.
Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami and Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico—the chairmen, respectively, of the US bishops’ committees on domestic and international justice—argued in a letter to every Congressman that the federal budget must not be balanced by “disproportionate cuts in essential service to poor persons.”
“The moral measure of the federal budget is not which party wins or which powerful interests prevail, but rather how those who are jobless, hungry, homeless, or poor are treated,” the two prelates wrote.
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Posted by: brenda22890 -
Mar. 05, 2015 1:07 PM ET USA
I have to agree with all the commentators here. The church needs to get off the government dole, and to take care of its own poor, as it used to do. As long as the church in the West is tied to government, the door is open to all kinds of corruption.
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Posted by: jrorr19609092 -
Mar. 03, 2015 10:41 PM ET USA
Where is the gospels, Your Excellencies, does Jesus direct his disciples to go get Julies Caesar, i.e., government, to care for the poor?
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Posted by: tjbenjamin -
Mar. 03, 2015 10:13 PM ET USA
The secular government needs to get out of the charity business. Secular governments are in no position to be charitable. That is not their function. Besides, it gives them way too much power, as we are learning the hard way. Charity must be private, because true charity is voluntary. Secular governments confiscate money from one group and give to another. There is no real charity happening, just vote buying.
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Posted by: unum -
Mar. 03, 2015 6:39 PM ET USA
Where do the bishops recommend that we cut spending? Or, do they recommend that we allow the deficit to grow until we are bankrupt? Most Catholics don't understand their requests of more, more, more! It appears that their thinking is similar to the federal government!
