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Tuesday, 15 November 2011 20:50

Written by Ann Rodgers

One of the joys of blogging is that I can post information that had been cut out of my paper stories, usually for reasons of length.  The most important thing missing from Tuesday’s story about the religious liberty concerns of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was the direct quote from Archbishop Timothy Dolan about his recent meeting with President Obama.
The quote is important because, even thought the bishops are complaining loudly that some agencies in his administration are changing the rules to exclude Catholic social service agencies from federal funding, the archbishop did not resort to personal attack on the president.  Here’s the quote:
“It was extraordinarily friendly, very candid. There were areas of agreement and disagreement. I found the president of the United States to be very open to the sensitivities coming from the Catholic community, that we are worried about an intrusion on religious liberty,” he said., “He was ardent to assure me that this is something he will look long and hard at. I left feeling more at peace about this issue than when I entered.”

Something that’s important to remember is that the Catholic bishops probably have more areas of policy agreement than disagreement with the Obama administrations, even if those disagreements – primarily over abortion – are crucial.  I’ve read some commentators on this week’s mee

ting criticize the bishops for putting more energy into defending their position on abortion and gay marriage than on advocating for the poor. However, the issues that make it through the committee process to the floor of the bishops’ meeting aren’t the best measure of all that they do.

The best measure comes from a large document with the dull title “Information Reports.” It gives an account of what each of their committees has been doing for the past year. Although I can’t do a quantitative analysis, it was my general impression in reading it that concern for the poor got more ink than any other public issue they deal with.

I will be putting up another post on a couple of their abortion initiatives, but meanwhile, here’s what they had to say about poverty, the death penalty, the environment and more:.

Their Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, while also addressing some internal issues, addressed the impact of federal budget cuts on poor families, unemployment and job creation and the continuing impact of the BP oil spill on the Gulf Coast. While truly conservative groups are trying to repeal the national health care plan, the bishops only want to amend it to ensure that it will not cover abortions and that it will cover immigrants.

“Moving forward, the Committee agreed to support efforts to amend and improve the health care law by codifying the requirement that federal funds not be used for elective abortions or plans that include them; further protecting conscience rights; and protecting access to health care for immigrants. The Committee also agreed not to support efforts that would have the effect of reducing coverage, limiting access or making health care less affordable.”

Many of the committee’s meetings dealt with the ongoing budget crisis and the impact of proposed cuts on the poor. The bishops were instrumental in forming the Circle of Protection, an ecumenical alliance of Christian leaders advocating protection of the poor nationally and internationally amid the concerns over the budget. The bishops set three criteria for budget decisions, and have repeatedly contacted Congress about them:

1. Every budget decision should be assessed by whether it protects or threatens human life and dignity.
2. 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.
3. 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 times.

These bishops wrote to key members of Congress, decrying proposed cuts to Medicaid for the poorest Americans. They  discussed  church teaching on workers’ rights, and invited union leaders to their meetings to talk about anti-labor activism. They affirmed statements of the Wisconsin and Ohio bishops on the right of workers to organize,

They also invited church workers and fishing industry representatives to their meeting to talk about the continuing human, environmental and economic impact of the Gulf Oil Spill. In other environmental matters, they are part of an ongoing effort to educate church members about the risks to children from pollution. As part of that they lobbied Congress in support of a national standard to reduce mercury pollution.

They wrote to the governor of Illinois urging him to sign a bill that abolished the states penalty. He did so, citing his Catholic faith as a reason. The bishops are supporting many state Catholic conferences in opposition to the death penalty,

This list goes on, and there’s a list of their efforts on behalf of the global poor that may be even longer.  My point is that you can’t judge what the Catholic bishops are working on solely based on what they discuss at their open meetings. Most of the heavy lifting goes on in committee meetings throughout the year, and encompasses a much broader agenda.

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