Paul Ryan and the Archbishop: Budgets are moral commitments

Ryan Streeter
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In the wake of the public renunciation of John Boehner's leadership by a group of Catholic academics, Paul Ryan's recent exchange with Archbishop Dolan is worthy of some attention. Ryan issued a statement this afternoon after receiving Dolan's reply to an earlier letter Ryan had sent:

I thank Archbishop Dolan for his leadership and guidance on how policymakers can best serve the common good of our nation.  The perilous fiscal and economic challenges facing our country require solutions that reflect our shared values and are rooted in timeless principles.  The House-passed budget – The Path to Prosperity – seeks to strengthen the economic security of seniors, workers, and families, and averts the debt-fueled economic crisis before us.  Our budget upholds the dignity of the human person and is especially attentive to the long-term concerns of the poor.  I hope Americans of every faith and political background will continue in constructive dialogue to address these great challenges in their  economic and moral dimensions.  I am deeply grateful to Archbishop Dolan for his inspired engagement in this dialogue.

Ryan's original letter (PDF) is worth reading in its entirety. In it he says the "social concerns of the Church cannot be addressed under [the] conditions" we'll find ourselves in soon if we continue the status quo. He lays out a detailed defense of why his budget is a prudent attempt to restore the conditions of growth and security needed if we are to maintain a strong safety net.

In Dolan's reply to Ryan (PDF), the Archbishop writes:

As is so clear from your correspondence, the light of our faith – anchored in the Bible, the tradition of the Church, and the Natural Law – can help illumine and guide solid American constitutional wisdom. Thus I commend your letter’s attention to the important values of fiscal responsibility; sensitivity to the foundational role of the family; the primacy of the dignity of the human person and the protection of all human life; a concrete solicitude for the poor and the vulnerable, especially those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty; and putting into practice the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, here at home and internationally within the context of a commitment to the common good shared by government and other mediating institutions alike.

Some on the left and right will bristle at the moral - even spiritual - tenor of this exchange and the connection that is made between moral wisdom and federal budgeting. But, actually, almost nothing on the national stage is as moral as our current budget environment. Our budget has to do not just with how we treat the poor, but how we think we should live, what we think we deserve from the state (which affects how we think we should live), and what kind of future we want to leave for our children. More public discussion at the level of the Ryan-Archbishop exchange would be good for America.

Comments

[Jane]

As again the Catholic Church is being asked to carry the water for Politically Motivated Evangelicals,,,,let's all wait to see which of these praising political pundits says beans against those attaching that same church for their stance on Immigration, Hunger, war and Poverty..... not to mention allegations against their organiations Priest Abue Scandal.

Waiting till the end of time for that.