Truth is Truth, No Matter How Many Nuns are on the Bus

Letters to the U.S. House of Representatives from the USCCB's Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) were critical of the Paul Ryan budget. One letter stated that "deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility efforts must protect and not undermine the needs of poor and vulnerable people. The proposed cuts to programs in the budget reconciliation fail this basic moral test."

It's just a matter of time before the press rediscovers the USCCB letters and has a field day.  The dopey analyses will try to intimate that the USCCB's criticism of the Ryan budget equates to the USCCB's condemnation of assaults on human life and lack of conscience protections in the Affordable Health Care Act.  "Since one now cancels out the other," they will opine, "Catholics are free to vote willy nilly."

Several months ago, Rep Paul Ryan provided a thoughtful, scholarly response, which was published in the National Catholic Register:

• "The Catholic Church offers a rich overview of its thought, summarized in the Compendium of Social Doctrine, to guide Catholics in bringing truth to society’s problems. In his introduction, Cardinal Renato Martino, then president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, wrote, 'This area belongs in a particular way' to those lay faithful who are active 'in the social sector'" (Applying Our Enduring Truths to Our Defining Challenge, 4/25/12).

The Compendium of Social Doctrine is one of the Church's great undiscovered treasures.  To see it cited by a politician is incredible (The links are to unofficial summaries/commentaries.). 

Chapter 1, God's Plan of Love for Humanity
Chapter 2, The Church's Mission and Social Doctrine
Chapter 3, The Human Person and Human Rights
Chapter 4, Principles of the Church's Social Doctrine
Chapter 5, The Family, the Vital Cell of Society
Chapter 6, Human Work
Chapter 7, Economic Life
Chapter 8, Political Community
Chapter 9, The International Community
Chapter 10, Safeguarding the Environment
Chapter 11, The Promotion of Peace
Chapter 12, Social Doctrine and Ecclesial Action
Conclusion: For a Civilization of Love

I believe that you cannot truly study the Compendium, without becoming convinced that the sanctity of human life and marriage/family are at the core of authentic Catholic Social Teaching.  Tragically, many American nuns have failed to make this study....

In its introductory video to Network's "Nuns on the Bus" tour, executive director Sister Simone Campbell flippantly acknowledged finding the Holy Father's Caritas et Veritate to be boring and singled out "Republicans" for criticism.  While Sister Simone was highly critical of Rep. Paul Ryan, her own understanding of authentic Catholic Social Teaching was demonstrably inadequate.  As per the Vatican's Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious

• "while there has been a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the Church’s social doctrine, it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death....greater emphasis needs to be placed both on the relationship of the LCWR with the Conference of Bishops, and on the need to provide a sound doctrinal foundation in the faith of the Church...[There is a need to] review LCWR links with affiliated organizations, e.g. Network and Resource Center for Religious Life."

We need to get out in front of this argument: The USCCB's criticism of the Ryan budget does NOT equate to the USCCB's condemnation of assaults on human life and lack of conscience protections in the Affordable Health Care Act (i.e., Obamacare).