Along with their Jan. 18 recommendations on fixing “serious moral
problems” in last year's health care legislation, the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a more comprehensive set of
recommendations to members of the 112th Congress.
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, president of the U.S. bishops'
conference, wrote on its behalf to members of Congress on Jan. 14.
He
presented a series of proposals applying the Church's social teaching
–which deals mainly with society's universally shared interests, among
people of all faiths or none– to issues expected to face the new
Congress.
Among his top priorities were “responsible transitions” to end the
U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a greater emphasis on religious
freedom in foreign policy decisions, and a “clear priority for poor
families and vulnerable workers” in all economic recovery measures.
Writing only a week before the 38th anniversary of the Supreme
Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, the archbishop declared that the
bishops' most fundamental aim was “to protect the lives of the most
vulnerable and voiceless members of the human family,” particularly the
unborn, disabled, and terminally ill.
“We will consistently defend the fundamental right to life, from
conception to natural death,” he wrote, while promising to “encourage
one and all to seek common ground” to reduce the number of abortions
through increased medical care for pregnant women.
“In close connection with our defense of all human life,” Archbishop
Dolan continued, “we stand firm in our support for marriage, which is
–and can only be– a faithful, exclusive, lifelong union of one man and
one woman.”
He pledged the bishops' support for the Defense of Marriage
Act against challenges to its constitutionality, and renewed their
opposition to same-sex civil unions and partner benefits.
On the economic front, the archbishop reminded members of Congress
that any legislative attempts to revive the national economy must give
priority to the immediate needs of those hit hardest by the downturn in
recent years.
He urged the Obama administration and Congress to “seek
the common good of our nation” over “partisan politics and the demands
of powerful or narrow interests.”
Archbishop Dolan gave a qualified endorsement to partnerships between
the federal government and faith-based charities, many of which have
stepped in to help victims of economic turmoil.
Such partnerships can be
of vital service to the nation, the archbishop said, provided they do
not require religious groups to make unacceptable compromises of their
beliefs.
Immigration reform also continues to be a priority for the U.S.
bishops, who supported last year's unsuccessful attempt to pass the
DREAM Act.
Many members of the U.S. episcopate have experienced
firsthand, in the course of their ministry, the systematic problems of
what Archbishop Dolan called a “broken immigration system” that “harms
both immigrants and our entire nation.”
“Comprehensive reform is needed,” Archbishop Dolan argued, “to deal
with the economic and human realities of millions of immigrants in our
midst.”
Such reform, he said, “will include a path to earned
citizenship,” without neglecting the ways in which U.S. trade and
development policies can improve conditions in immigrants' countries of
origin.
SIC: CNA/INT'L