THINKPROGRESS, May 11, 2011—House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will give the commencement address at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. this weekend. Ahead of the visit, dozens of faculty members from the school and other other Catholic universities are writing to Boehner — who is himself an observant Catholic — challenging his willingness to “gut” social programs while protecting “new tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.”
“Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the Church’s most ancient moral teachings” of caring for the poor, they write:
“Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.”
“The 2012 budget you shepherded to passage in the House of Representatives guts long-established protections for the most vulnerable members of society. It is particularly cruel to pregnant women and children, gutting Maternal and Child Health grants and slashing $500 million from the highly successful Women Infants and Children nutrition program. When they graduate from WIC at age 5, these children will face a 20% cut in food stamps. The House budget radically cuts Medicaid and effectively ends Medicare. It invokes the deficit to justify visiting such hardship upon the vulnerable, while it carves out $3 trillion in new tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.”
The letter goes on to cite a separate letter from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, written last month, which also raised moral issues with the GOP budget. “A just framework for future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons,” the bishops wrote, adding:
“Converting Medicare into a voucher program could shift rising health care costs to vulnerable seniors and those who are poor without controlling these costs. We also fear the human and social costs of substantial cuts to programs that serve families working to escape poverty, especially food and nutrition, child development and education, and affordable housing.”
“Indeed, according to official Vatican doctrine, “The responsibility for attaining the common good, besides falling to individual persons, belongs also to the State.” “Tax revenues and public spending take on crucial economic importance,” the Vatican guidance continues, because “[j]ust, efficient and effective public financing will havevery positive effects.”
“Speaker Boehner’s budget eviscerates vital programs that protect the poor, the elderly, the homeless and at-risk pregnant women and children. This is not pro-life,” Stephen Schneck, Director of the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at Catholic and a signatory of the letter, said in press release. The Church has also voiced support for labor unions.
As Faith in Public Life notes, “in contrast to the Catholic right’s effort to intimidate Notre Dame into withdrawing its commencement invitation to President Obama, this letter does NOT call on the university to disinvite Boehner or ask Boehner to cancel.”
UPDATEIn response, Boehner's spokesperson told the New York Times that Boehner's speech is "personal" and "non-political." He did not address the scholars' argument.
TEXT OF THE LETTER:
Dear Mr. Speaker,
We congratulate you on the occasion of your commencement address to The Catholic University of America. It is good for Catholic universities to host and engage the thoughts of powerful public figures, even Catholics such as yourself who fail to recognize (whether out of a lack of awareness or dissent) important aspects of Catholic teaching. We write in the hope that this visit will reawaken your familiarity with the teachings of your Church on matters of faith and morals as they relate to governance.
Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the Church’s most ancient moral teachings. From the apostles to the present, the Magisterium of the Church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor. Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.
The 2012 budget you shepherded to passage in the House of Representatives guts long-established protections for the most vulnerable members of society. It is particularly cruel to pregnant women and children, gutting Maternal and Child Health grants and slashing $500 million from the highly successful Women Infants and Children nutrition program. When they graduate from WIC at age 5, these children will face a 20% cut in food stamps. The House budget radically cuts Medicaid and effectively ends Medicare. It invokes the deficit to justify visiting such hardship upon the vulnerable, while it carves out $3 trillion in new tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. In a letter speaking on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Stephen Blaire and Bishop Howard Hubbard detailed the anti-life implications of this budget in regard to its impact on poor and vulnerable American citizens.
They explained the Church’s teachings in this regard clearly, insisting that:
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.
Specifically, addressing your budget, the letter expressed grave concern about changes to Medicaid and Medicare that could leave the elderly and poor without adequate health care. The bishops warned further:
We also fear the human and social costs of substantial cuts to programs that serve families working to escape poverty, especially food and nutrition, child development and education, and affordable housing.
Representing the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishops Hubbard and Blaire have now endorsed with other American Christian leaders a call to legislators for a “Circle of Protection” around programs for the poor that you, Mr. Speaker, have imperiled. The statement of these Christian leaders recognizes the need for fiscal responsibility, “but not at the expense of hungry and poor people.” Indeed, it continues, “These choices are economic, political—and moral. As Christians, we believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare. We look at every budget proposal from the bottom up—how it treats those Jesus called ‘the least of these’ (Matthew 25:45).”
Mr. Speaker, we urge you to use the occasion of this year’s commencement at The Catholic University of America to give fullest consideration to the teachings of your Church. We call upon you to join with your bishops and sign on to the “Circle of Protection.” It is your moral duty as a legislator to put the needs of the poor and most vulnerable foremost in your considerations. To assist you in this regard, we enclose a copy of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Published by the Vatican, this is the “catechism” for the Church’s ancient and growing teaching on a just society and Catholic obligations in public life.
Catholic social doctrine is not merely a set of goals to be achieved by whatever means one chooses. It is also a way of proceeding, a set of principles that are derived from the truth of the human person. In Pope Benedict’s words: “Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way... the word “love” is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite.”
We commend to you the Compendium’s discussion of the principles of the common good, the preferential option for the poor, and the interrelationship of subsidiarity and solidarity. Paragraph 355 on tax revenues, solidarity, and support for the vulnerable is particularly relevant to the moment.
Be assured of our prayers for you on this occasion and for your faithful living out of your vocation in public life.
Sincerely,
Stephen F. Schneck
Director, Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies
The Catholic University of America
Ken Pennington
Kelly-Quinn Professor of Ecclesiastical and Legal History
The Catholic University of America
School of Canon Law
The Columbus School of Law
The Catholic University of America
Karen M. Korol
Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies
School of Theology and Religious Studies
Catholic University of America
Rett R. Ludwikowski, Ph.D.
Comparative and International Law Institute
Columbus School of Law
The Catholic University of America
Patricia C. McMullen, Ph.D., JD, CRNP
Dean
School of Nursing
The Catholic University of America
Kenneth P. Miller, Ph.D, RN, CFNP, FAAN
Associate Dean for Administration
School of Nursing
The Catholic University of America
Timothy J. Meagher
Associate Professor
Department of History
The Catholic University of America
Sr. Ann Patrick Conrad, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
National Catholic School of Social Service
The Catholic University of America
Sr. Vincentia Joseph, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita
National Catholic School of Social Service
The Catholic University of America
Maryann Cusimano Love, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Politics
The Catholic University of America
Stephen McKenna, Ph.D.
Associate Professor & Chair
Department of Media Studies
The Catholic University of America
Linda Plitt Donaldson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
National Catholic School of Social Service
The Catholic University of America
Margaret Martin Berry
Columbus School of Law
The Catholic University of America
Leslie W. Tentler, Ph.D.
Ordinary Professor
Department of History
The Catholic University of America
Rev. Anthony J. Pogorelc, Ph.D.
Fellow
Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies
The Catholic University of America
William V. D’Antonio, Ph.D.
Fellow
Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies
The Catholic University of America
William Barbieri, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Theology and Religious Studies
The Catholic University of America
Enrique Pumar, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology
The Catholic University of America
Joseph J. Shields
Associate Professor
The National Catholic School of Social Service
The Catholic University of America
Ellen M. Scully
Assistant Clinical Professor
Columbus Community Legal Services
Columbus School of Law
The Catholic University of America
Marie J. Raber, MSW, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Associate Dean and MSW Program Chair
National Catholic School of Social Service
The Catholic University of America
Michaela L. Zajicek-Farber, MSW, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
National Catholic School of Social Service
The Catholic University of America
William D. Dinges, Ph.D.
Ordinary Professor
School of Theology and Religious Studies
The Catholic University of America
William P. Loewe, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology
The Catholic University of America
Karlynn BrintzenhofeSzoc, Ph.D., MSW, OSW-C
Associate Professor
Director, Data Management & Outcomes Assessment
National Catholic School of Social Service
The Catholic University of America
James A. McCann, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science
Purdue University
Visiting Fellow, Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies
The Catholic University of America
Chris Grech
Associate Professor
School of Architecture and Planning
The Catholic University of America
Ernest M. Zampelli, Ph.D.
Ordinary Professor
Department of Business and Economics
The Catholic University of America
David A Lipton
Director, Securities Law Program
School of Law
The Catholic University of America
Murry Sidlin
Professor, School of Music
The Catholic University of America
John Sniegocki
Associate Professor of Christian Ethics
Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH
Kristin Suna-Koro, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Theology
Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH
Jean Lim
Visiting Professor, Theology
Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH
Arthur T. Dewey
Professor of Theology
Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH
Edward P. Hahnenberg, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Theology
Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH
Vincent J. Miller
Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture
Department of Religious Studies
University of Dayton
Una M. Cadegan
Associate Professor, Department of History
University of Dayton
Francis Xavier Doyle
Former Associate General Secretary
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Arturo Chavez, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Mexican American Catholic College
Gary Macy
John Nobili, S.J. Professor of Theology
Santa Clara University
Gerald J. Beyer
Associate Professor of Christian Social Ethics
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
Saint Joseph's University
Dr. Eugene J. Halus, Jr.
Associate Professor of Politics
Department of History and Politics
Immaculata University
Kristin Heyer
Associate Professor
Religious Studies
Santa Clara University
Bryan N. Massingale
Associate Professor of Theological Ethics
Marquette University
Dolores L. Christie
CTSA/John Carroll University
Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.
Research Fellow
Jesuit Social Research Institute
Loyola University
New Orleans, LA
Daniel K. Finn
Professor of Theology and Clemens Professor of Economics
St. John’s University
Collegeville, MN
Terrence W. Tilley
Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Professor of Catholic Theology
Chair, Theology Department
President, Society for Philosophy of Religion
Fordham University, Bronx, NY
Thomas J. Reese, S.J.
Senior Fellow
Woodstock Theological Center
Georgetown University
Bruce T. Morrill, S.J.
Professor, Theology Department
Boston College
Nancy Dallavalle
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Religious Studies
Fairfield University
Lisa Sowle Cahill
Monan Professor of Theology
Boston College
Bradford Hinze
Professor of Theology
Fordham University
Mary Ann Hinsdale
Associate Professor of Theology
Boston College
Paul Lakeland
Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J. Professor of Catholic Studies
Director, Center for Catholic Studies
Jeannine Hill Fletcher
Associate Professor of Theology
Faculty Director, Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice
Fordham University
Paulette Skiba
Professor of Religious Studies
Clarke University
Dennis M. Doyle
Professor
Department of Religious Studies
University of Dayton
Maura Donahue, Ph.D.
Director, Program for Christian Leadership
University of Dayton
Richard R. Gaillardetz
Murray/Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies
University of Toledo
Christopher Pramuk
Assistant Professor of Theology
Xavier University
Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concern
Mary Ann Brenden MSW, LICSW
Associate Professor of Social Work
St. Catherine University/University of St. Thomas School of Social Work
Mark Ensalaco, Ph.D.
Director, Human Rights Studies program
University of Dayton
Dr. Marie J. Giblin
Associate Professor
Theology Department
Xavier University
Frank Farrell, Ph.D.
Chair- Liberal Arts Division
Senior Associate Professor, Religion
Manor College
Rev. Joseph Nangle, OFM
Our Lady Queen of Peace
Arlington, VA
Todd Whitmore
Associate Professor of Christian Ethics
Department of Theology
University of Notre Dame
Christine Firer Hinze, Ph.D., B.A, M.A, CUA
Professor of Theology
Director, Francis & Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies
Fordham University
Ed Kelly
Adjunct Professor
University Writing Program
University of Notre Dame
Maria McKenna, Ph.D.
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Africana Studies
University of Notre Dame
Sr. Mary Hughes, OP
President
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Ron Pagnucco
Chairman
Department of Peace Studies
College of St. Benedict/St. John's University
Michael A. Zampelli, SJ
Paul Locatelli, SJ Professor
Department of Theater and Dance
Rector, Santa Clara Jesuit Community
Santa Clara University
John A. Coleman, SJ
Casassa Professor of Social Values, Emeritus
Loyola Marymount University
Jim Hug, S.J.
President
Center of Concern
Lew Daly
Director, Fellows Program
Demos
Author of God’s Economy: Faith-Based Initiatives and the Caring State
John A. Barba
will receive Ph.D. in Historical and Systematic Theology at Catholic University graduation on Saturday
Mary Paterson
Professor, School of Nursing
The Catholic University of America
Héctor Lindo-Fuentes
Professor of History, Fordham University
Douglass Alvarado
Human Services Judge
Minnesota Department of Human Services
Robert A. Krieg
Professor of Theology
University of Notre Dame
Vytenis Gureckas, RA
Associate Professor
School of Architecture and Planning
The Catholic University of America
Posted By: Richard Kigel
Thursday, May 12th 2011 at 12:42PM
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