By Deacon Keith Fournier (Catholic Online)
How I have longed to see Catholic Social Thought liberated so that it can be offered to our Nation in this her great hour of need. As my dear mother was so fond of saying “Raise the Flag”, it finally seems to be happening.
WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) – The announcement that Jonathan J. Reyes, Ph.D. will serve as the new Executive Director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sent joy into many hearts. Even though I do not personally know Dr. Reyes, I was numbered among them.
He served as the CEO of Catholic Charities and Community Services of the Archdiocese of Denver since 2009. His record of properly applying the real Social Teaching of the Catholic Church was evident. His founding of Christ in the City, work with Regina Caeli Catholic Counseling Services and Lighthouse Women’s Care Center and the Guadalupe Community Assistance Center, all make clear he “walks the talk”. His service to the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) confirms that he lives the mission of the New Evangelization.
His time in the Catholic Academy, including both his service at Christendom College and his co-founding and subsequent leadership of the Augustine Institute, speak volumes. Both institutions are clearly faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and produce wonderful “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5) for service to the Church and the world into which she is sent in this new missionary age. This man is a treasure at just the right time for the US Catholic Church.
On the day I read of this important appointment, I also read Archbishop Chaput ‘s wide ranging interview with John Allen of the National Catholic Register. Of course, anyone who reads me regularly knows of my high regard for the Archbishop. He is a courageous champion in an hour of cowardice. We need as many like him as we can get.
The interview has received a lot of press coverage. It can be read in its entirety here. However, allow me to excerpt one part below:
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“(John Allen) We’re speaking on the night Barack Obama is delivering his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Let me ask flat-out: Do you believe a Catholic in good faith can vote for Obama?
“(Archbishop Chaput) I can only speak in terms of my own personal views. I certainly can’t vote for somebody who’s either pro-choice or pro-abortion.I’m not a Republican and I’m not a Democrat. I’m registered as an independent, because I don’t think the church should be identified with one party or another. As an individual and voter I have deep personal concerns about any party that supports changing the definition of marriage, supports abortion in all circumstances, wants to restrict the traditional understanding of religious freedom. Those kinds of issues cause me a great deal of uneasiness.
“(John Allen) What about the wing of the church that says a party that supports the Ryan budget also ought to cause concern?
“(Archbishop Chaput) - Jesus tells us very clearly that if we don’t help the poor, we’re going to go to hell. Period. There’s just no doubt about it. That has to be a foundational concern of Catholics and of all Christians. But Jesus didn’t say the government has to take care of them, or that we have to pay taxes to take care of them. Those are prudential judgments.
“Anybody who would condemn someone because of their position on taxes is making a leap that I can’t make as a Catholic. … You can’t say that somebody’s not Christian because they want to limit taxation. Again, I’m speaking only for myself, but I think that’s a legitimate position. It may not be the correct one, but it’s certainly a legitimate Catholic position; and to say that it’s somehow intrinsically evil like abortion doesn’t make any sense at all.
“(John Allen) – That said, do you find the Ryan budget troubling?
“(Archbishop Chaput) - The Ryan budget isn’t the budget I would write. I think he’s trying to deal with the same issue in the government I’m dealing with here locally, which is spending more than we bring in. I admire the courage of anyone who’s actually trying to solve the problems rather than paper over them. I think a vigorous debate about the issues, rather than the personalities, is the way through this problem. It’s immoral for us to continue to spend money we don’t have. I think that those persons who don’t want to deal with the issue are, in some ways, doing wrong by putting it off for their own political protection or the protection of their party.”
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Wow! How I have longed to see Catholic Social Thought liberated so that it can be offered to our Nation in this her great hour of need. As my dear mother was so fond of saying “Raise the Flag”, it finally seems to be happening.
It is time to take the truths and principles offered in Catholic Social Teaching out of the …