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. …

CREDO’s First Meeting a Success

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…

Why Minimum Wage Increases are a Poor Way to Help the Working Poor

Recently Archbishop Wenski, on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote: “while they are not economists or labor market experts…they see the pain and struggles caused by an economy that simply does not produce enough jobs with a just wage.”  They do propose one solution—a raise in the federal minimum wage—because currently it fails “to provide sufficient resources for individuals to form and support families.  A full-year, full-time worker making the minimum wage does not make enough money to raise a child free from poverty.”

Neither the Bishops’ concern over the economic plight of the working poor nor the economic policy prescription they support is a surprise. …