Founded in mid-2013, the Catholic Research Economists Discussion Organization had its first membership meeting on January 4, 2014. The meeting was part of the Allied Social Sciences Association meetings in Philadelphia. CREDO members began with a Mass celebrated by Bishop John McIntyre at St. John the Evangelist’s Catholic Church.
The members followed Mass with a breakfast and meeting at the Downtown Marriott, the conference hotel. The breakfast and meeting were partially sponsored by the Collegium Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture. Despite the bad winter weather, approximately 70 members turned out for the breakfast and meeting, including several walk-in new members.
Dr. Jonathan Reyes
Executive Director of The Department of
Justice, Peace, & Human Development, USCCB
The guest speaker was Jonathan Reyes, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Dr. Reyes gave a brief background of what the USCCB functions and how it might benefit from CREDO members.
As the episcopal conference of the U.S., the USCCB has two functions. First, it is a guiding body for ecclesiastical concerns of the Catholic Church in the United States. Second, it is involved with advocacy and lobbying on issues relevant to the Catholic faith and broader society.
Dr. Reyes explained that he was hopeful that CREDO could play an important role in helping inform the USCCB about the key economic issues involving social and economic policies. Specifically, he noted the need for faithful and objective expertise on pressing issues they are facing.
Dr. Reyes explained, “Thee focuses are poverty and the family, prison reform, and education opportunity. We will also continue our focus on the budget and programs that help poor people.”
“We occasionally have need to consult with professionals as issues arise and I am grateful for the opportunity to meet all of you in CREDO and hope that I may be able to call upon some of you on occasion to get an assessment of state of knowledge in a field: where the agreement is, and where the disagreement is.”
