Bishops To Vote On Document Responding To Difficult Economic Times

WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops willvote on a document urging action to overcome poverty, affirming the work ofCatholics in response to the economic crisis and expressing solidarity withthose looking for work during difficult economic times at their Fall GeneralAssembly in Baltimore, November 12-15. "The Hope of the Gospel in DifficultEconomic Times" calls on all of society to work together to put people andfamilies at the center of the economy.

"It is our hope that this letterwill encourage prayer and study, as well as conversation and discussion, withinour parishes and our dioceses, in order that together we may find creative andconstructive ways of resolving the economic problems we face," the bishops writein the draft document.

The document encourages Catholics tobuild on the good work of individuals and institutions to help those impactedby the recession. It urges a commitment to serving the poor, both throughdirect assistance and through advocacy for broader systemic solutions needed toovercome poverty.

"Economic institutions, governmentsand businesses, even the most complex of them, are not uncontrollable andimpersonal entities. At least they need not be," according to the draftdocument. "It is an error, as Pope Benedict XVI teaches, to think that economicdynamics should not be influenced by criteria of moral judgment."

The document calls for all people toact virtuously and give to others what is due to them. It says the principlesof subsidiarity and solidarity always go together and that government shouldrespond to human needs in a way that doesn't create a permanent underclass.

More information on the bishops'meeting in Baltimore is available online: www.usccb.org/about/leadership/usccb-general-assembly/

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Keywords: USCCB, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, U.S.bishops, Fall General Assembly, November meeting, Baltimore, poverty,recession, economic crisis, economy, unemployment, labor, wages, justice,government, businesses, charity

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