June 20, 2009
Bishops urge lawmakers to protect vulnerable in budget reform
By Julie Sly
Herald editor
Bishop Jaime Soto, right, speaks at a June 11 news conference about state budget reforms outside Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services in the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento. He is joined by Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, left, and Blake Young, executive director of Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services. Steve Pehanich photo
California’s Catholic bishops are urging state lawmakers to undertake
major tax and budget reforms, giving priority to programs that provide for
the basic needs of children, the disabled, the poor and those unemployed,
before funding less-urgently needed services.
In a statement released June 11 during a news conference at Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, president of the California Catholic Conference of Bishops, urged legislators during budget deliberations to help those who cannot help themselves.
“The pain our people feel is real,” Bishop Blaire said. “We see it in the faces of families we meet at parishes throughout our dioceses. We know it intimately from the dedication work the staff and volunteers at Catholic Charities perform every day, as they offer help and hear the stories of the tired, depressed and anxious individuals who have lost their jobs, lost their homes and cannot provide for their children, their families or themselves.”
Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento at the news conference noted that although Californians are in an economic crisis, they “should continue to support those in need, those who are suffering the most because they are without basic resources.”
“Let’s continue our acts of charity, especially to marginalized individuals and families,” he said.
The bishops’ statement urged lawmakers to be guided by two fundamental principles: setting clear priorities which support the poor and most vulnerable, and working for a permanent solution to budget and tax reform.
“This means providing for children, the disabled and those poor and unemployed who cannot provide for themselves — and then providing for everything else,” according to the statement.
The statement notes that the current economic crisis “has been a wake-up call for everyone — for the public sector, the private sector, for churches and other nonprofits: that the responsibility we share to look after one another doesn’t shrink when government funding shrinks.”
The statement adds that many social service agencies, including Catholic Charities, are under enormous strain, “but they will continue to work day and night to help needy families and individuals caught up in the painful effects of the financial crisis.”
Bishops Blaire and Soto were joined at the press conference by Bishop Emeritus William K. Weigand of Sacramento, Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, Father Michael Kiernan, executive director of Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Shannon Lahey, executive director of Catholic Charities of California, and Blake Young, president of Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services.
The complete text of the California bishops’ statement is available on the Web site of the California Catholic Conference at www.cacatholic.org.
