Economic Justice
for All

Twenty-five years ago, the U.S. Bishops issued a landmark 99-page pastoral letter entitled Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the US Economy. Today, with a record number of people suffering in a flailing economy, the letter’s call to promote human dignity in economic, policy and individual actions is as relevant as ever.

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Economic Justice

"All economic life should be shaped by moral principles. Economic choices and institutions must be judged by how they protect or undermine the life and dignity of the human person, support the family, and serve the common good."

A Catholic Framework for Economic Life
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1996

Fighting Poverty: A Look at Structural Causes and Market Assumptions

October 31, 2014 Economic Justice, Human Dignity

Pope Francis sparked renewed conversations this week by re-iterating his call to address the “structural causes” of poverty and inequality in the world.

He told the World Meeting of Popular Movements, a gathering convened by the Vatican, that the effort to fight poverty “must be done with courage, but also with intelligence; with tenacity, but without fanaticism; with passion, but without violence." He pointed the assembled activists to the message contained in Matthew 25 – the Last Judgment - "whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."

"It Could Have Been So Much More" - CA Catholic Conference Response to State Budget

June 16, 2014 Economic Justice, Human Dignity

Edward "Ned" Dolejsi, Executive Director of the California Catholic Conference, issued the following statement in response to the passage of the Budget by the California Legislature yesterday:

“The budget sent to Gov. Brown last night may be a ‘sober’ budget, but it would be wrong to call it a ‘good’ budget. It pays the bills, it provides money for more effective public safety and human service programs at the local level, and there’s some money left over for a rainy day, but for a small, incremental investment, it could have been so much more,” said Dolejsi.

Catholic Leaders Call for Preserving International Food Aid

June 5, 2014 Economic Justice, Human Dignity

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) are urging the Senate to defeat a proposal that would cost two million people around the world access to life-saving international food aid from the American people.

CA Catholic Conference Statement on May State Budget Revise

May 14, 2014 Economic Justice, Human Dignity

Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, released the following statement today concerning the Governor’s “May Revise” of the proposed 2014-15 State Budget:

“Two concepts seem to dominate Gov. Brown’s revised budget today: prudence and optimism. Prudence, because while the state’s budget outlook is the best it’s been in years, the recession isn’t over for everybody; and optimism, because we finally have the resources to begin making smart investments in California’s future.

California's Budget Surplus and the Preferential Option for the Poor

March 13, 2014 Economic Justice, Human Dignity

Money must serve, not rule! The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but he is obliged in the name of Christ to remind all that the rich must help, respect and promote the poor. I exhort you to generous solidarity and to the return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favors human beings. - Evangelli Gaudium, Apostolic Exhortation, Pope Francis

2014 State of the State: A Boom or Bust Cautionary Tale?

January 23, 2014 Economic Justice, Human Dignity

While briefly celebrating California’s “comeback” from years of severe financial instability and recession, Governor Jerry Brown delivered a tempered State of the State address this week that was peppered with strong calls for prudence and fiscal discipline.

On the bright side, the Governor applauded the high points of the state’s recovery: “A million new jobs since 2010, a budgetary surplus in the billions and a minimum wage rising to $10 and hour!” But he cautioned, “We are not out of the woods yet.”

2014 California Budget – Improved Fiscal Outlook, Modest Support for Poor

January 9, 2014 Economic Justice, Human Dignity

"Every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the planet with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one's own human potential. This is the main thing; in the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless." (Pope Francis in a Letter to UK Prime Minister David Cameron for the G8 Meeting)

Pope Francis and Economic Inequality: Five Essential Quotes

August 20, 2013 Economic Justice, Human Dignity

Five months is nothing in the life of an institution that "thinks in centuries" like the Catholic Church. So it's almost miraculous that Pope Francis has, in the short time since his election, amassed so much teaching on a single subject: economic inequality. This subject is also the focus of the 2013 Labor Day Statement by Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, California, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

MFG Repealed in Final Budget Deal

Economic Justice, Human Dignity

Late Thursday afternoon, a budget deal was announced that repeals the Maximum Family Grant (MFG) rule, provides additional funding for naturalization and other immigration services and funds teacher empowerment and recruitment items as well as additional early childhood education.

Authorization to purchase lethal drugs for Medi-Cal patients, while receiving no support from Assembly budget negotiators, is still apparently included albeit at a reduced rate as the program is “phased in.” Fortunately, funding for an assisted-suicide “hotline” was not included in the final budget.

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