Church Blog

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops urges Congress and the Administration to protect programs for poor and vulnerable persons during deficit reduction negotiations that are happening now.
 
Some proposals under discussion include disproportionate cuts to programs that serve the poorest, most vulnerable people at home and abroad.  Fiscal responsibility is important and it requires shared sacrifice and a priority concern for poor persons at home and abroad in our budget choices.
 
Unfortunately, very few advocate the priority claim of poor and vulnerable people, which makes our voices so much more important and prophetic.
 
Most recently, Bishop Stephen E. Blair and Bishop Howard J. Hubbard sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives expressing their concerns.  
 
Earlier this year, a letter from Bishop Blaire, and a joint letter from Bishop Hubbard and Ken Hackett, President of CRS, went out to the U.S. Senate, calling for more attention to the needs of poor and vulnerable people.
 
What You Can Do

1. Call your Members of Congress and tell them:
Every budget decision should be assessed by whether it protects or threatens human life and dignity.
A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects “the least of these” (Matthew 25). The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work, or in poverty should come first.
Government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to promote the common good of all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to live in dignity in difficult economic time.
A just framework for future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons. It requires shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement programs fairly.

2. Write to your Representative and Senators with the below message, telling them, specifically, how these cuts will hurt your diocese/parish/community in efforts to serve the poor and vulnerable people.

3. Help your diocese, parish, community organizations, and families understand the consequences of these deficit-reduction proposals on poor and vulnerable people. See these  documents and the letters above for more details.

4. Post information about this call to action online including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blogs, websites, and other media.