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The happy Irish archbishop of New York reminds me of the jolly pastors of a different era. An era where their teachings only met approval and were in harmony with the town’s notables: the well educated, wealthy few (1%). I figured, let’s see what kind of political statements does a new President of the USCCB.
- The principles of subsidiarity and solidarity are interrelated to one another. The late Pope reminded us that,
“… the principle of subsidiarity must be respected: a community of a higher order should not interfere in the
internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in
case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the
common good. (Centesimus Annus, 48).” Thus you rightly pointed out Pope John Paul’s comments on the limits of
what he termed the “Social Assistance State.”
I beg your pardon reverend, you missed a few lines the late pope JP II wrote in his papal letter. It’s about leadership, fraternal love and being there in person to get the unemployed, poor and abused back on track in society so the provider earns an honest wage and can care for his/her family. I’m thinking along the lines of community assistance, neighbours, buddies and the nuns (sister Theresa) who devote their lives in service of the meek, poor and sick. What you say about a universal coverage of the sick through health care? Perhaps your own crew will become first responders and apply the bandages and defilibrators? No, I guess not. You are part of the welfare state and need to lose a few pounds daily on your exercise machine (VIDEO) . It’s time you get promoted from your job in New York to the eternal city of Rome. Perhaps after the austerity measures on the Greece populace, soon Rome too will be burning Caligula! According to the teachings of Jesus, not making the less fortunate dependant on handouts doesn’t let you get away by doing nothing as the Republican party aims to do.
Chairman Ryan and Archbishop Dolan: Budgets Are Moral Statements
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Memorial for the abused child (Catholic church Hengelo, The Netherlands)
Pope John Paul II – Centesimus annus
“The Centenary of the promulgation of the Encyclical which begins with the words “Rerum novarum ” by my predecessor of venerable memory Pope Leo XIII, is an occasion of great importance for the present history of the Church and for my own Pontificate. It is an Encyclical that has the distinction of having been commemorated by solemn Papal documents from its fortieth anniversary to its ninetieth. It may be said that its path through history has been marked by other documents which paid tribute to it and applied it to the circumstances of the day.”
In recent years the range of such intervention has vastly expanded, to the point of creating a new type of State, the so-called “Welfare State”. This has happened in some countries in order to respond better to many needs and demands, by remedying forms of poverty and deprivation unworthy of the human person. However, excesses and abuses, especially in recent years, have provoked very harsh criticisms of the Welfare State, dubbed the “Social Assistance State”. Malfunctions and defects in the Social Assistance State are the result of an inadequate understanding of the tasks proper to the State. Here again the principle of subsidiarity must be respected: a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.
By intervening directly and depriving society of its responsibility, the Social Assistance State leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than by concern for serving their clients, and which are accompanied by an enormous increase in spending. In fact, it would appear that needs are best understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them and who act as neighbours to those in need. It should be added that certain kinds of demands often call for a response which is not simply material but which is capable of perceiving the deeper human need. One thinks of the condition of refugees, immigrants, the elderly, the sick, and all those in circumstances which call for assistance, such as drug abusers: all these people can be helped effectively only by those who offer them genuine fraternal support, in addition to the necessary care.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
