CREDO Economists Headline Lumen Christi Conference

The 6th Annual Lumen Christi Conference on Economics and Catholic Social Thought provoked a thoughtful discussion on conceptions of the human person within economics and theology, and CREDO members played an instrumental role in the conference. CREDO’s own Mary Hirschfeld (Villanova) gave the keynote address at the conference on April 1 at the University of Chicago, and she was joined by fellow CREDO member Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde (Penn), as well as Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, economist Rachel Kranton (Duke), and philosopher Russell Hittinger (Tulsa).

Cardinal George, in his last conference as acting Archbishop of Chicago, opened the event by emphasizing the importance of conversation between economists and bishops. He noted that past conversations were often difficult because of different anthropologies. …

Bishop Oscar Cantu

Deep cuts to food assistance a moral scandal

During Labor Day weekend we take time to reflect on what allows us to “put food on the table.”  In my line of work, as a pastor, I encounter people regularly who have to make difficult choices that no one should have to make: do I buy food or do I pay my rent?  Many of our churches, synagogues, schools and community centers try to lend a hand to families in need.  In many cases, the aid is appreciated but insufficient to get the family to a position of self-sufficiency.

It is during this time when so many Americans struggle to find work and put meals on the table that lawmakers in Washington are cutting a vital lifeline — food assistance — that protects vulnerable families from falling into poverty.  This is a moral scandal that betrays our nation’s best values and highest ideals. …

Minimum wage/just wage/family wage

Pope Francis–Time Magazine’s Person of the Year–has captured the attention and the imagination of the world.  His recent Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) has provoked much comment and no little controversy.  In it, echoing his predecessors, he laments a consumerism focused on things rather than people.  He mourns for the many places where humans serve the economy rather the other way around.  He condemns what he calls a “throw away culture” that excludes and marginalizes the weakest and the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters.

His words should provoke reflection–and lead to action–especially in the face of the challenges faced by low-wage workers in our economy today. …