Bill Quigley on Ratzinger

New Orleans and Louisiana are so blessed to have such courageous and faithful (not to mention famous) voices on behalf of justice. We have Sister Helen Prejean and Father Roy Bourgeois. And we also have Loyola University Law Professor Bill Quigley. Here is Bill's latest on what the selection of Ratzinger as Pope means to progressive Catholics:

Within minutes of the media announcement that Cardinal Ratizinger was selected Pope Benedict - I refuse to call a process whereby less than 1% of 1% can vote an election - I received an email asking if I was going to switch churches or wait to be excommunicated! My friends laughed and said “A progressive American Catholic is now a double oxymoron!”

The first Pope joke is already racing around Rome. When gregarious and generous Pope John XXIII was made pope, his first words were “Be not afraid!” Now when Pope Benedict is sworn in his first words will be “Be afraid! Be very afraid!”

For those of you who are not Catholic, selecting Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope is a lot like selecting Attorney General John Ashcroft as President. Ratzinger has been the enforcer of orthodoxy for years. No women priests. No gay unions. No questioning authority. Fall in line.

As a progressive American Catholic I feel uncomfortably out of place - both in country and in church. While the last Pope spoke passionately about poverty and peace and solidarity - these principles were undercut by the practices of protection of the all-male clerical hierarchy.

Likewise, we have a president who speaks boldly about freedom and democracy and opportunity - yet these same principles are undercut by practices of global military and economic domination and widespread denial of social and human rights at home and abroad.

Yet I, and millions of others, are not leaving - country or church. Millions refused to give up and go to Canada when our current fundamentalist president was elected.

And we millions are not leaving the catholic church just because the fundamentalists have assumed power there as well.

Our church and our country have wandered far away from the principles of respect and justice and equality that are supposed to be the foundations of each. Yet, we will not leave.

It is time to stand and struggle for the soul of church and country - and, I am afraid, more frequently than I would like, to struggle with both our church and country to force them to stand consistently for their principles.

If our country will not stand up for justice for civilians in Iraq, prisoners here and abroad, a living wage, racial justice, quality public schools, fair healthcare, and reigning in national and international corporate power - then it is up to us to do it. Our country is the one of Harriet Tubman, Patrick Henry, Eleanor Roosevelt, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King. They inspire us and they give us hope to push forward in these times.

If our church will not stand up for women leaders, accountability for abuses, democracy in our institutions, healthy sexuality, equality for people of all orientations, and real respect for all life - including the born - then it is up to us to do it. Our church is the one of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Joan of Arc, Philip Berrigan, Dorothy Day and Francis of Assisi. They inspire us and give us hope to push forward in these times.

Benedict and George - we are not leaving. It is our church and our country. We are going to stay and struggle for the soul of both, with love and justice for all.

Have faith, stay firm: truth will out.

Misunderstanding the Principle of Subsidiarity

Many conservative Catholics like to pull out the "Principle of Subsidiarity," first articulated in the Papal Encyclical Quadragessimo Anno and referred to in subsequent Papal Encyclicals on social and economic justice, as some kind of official Church policy that calls for the dismantling of the welfare state in ways that punish the poor. In essence, such folks argue that the Church position through this Subsidiarity Principle is that the welfare state diminishes the dignity and the sanctity of the individual by absolving the individual and his/her local community from conquering or overcoming the conditions which oppress him/her. To me, this sounds like the old "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" line, which is accompanied by an attitude that no one has a moral claim on the government to help one get a leg up in life when one can do it by himself and with the help of the people around him. But, while individual initiative is, indeed, to be encouraged, the social justice teaching of the Church also CLEARLY recognizes that sometimes societal and economic structures oppress and that government has a moral duty both to rectify this structural condition of oppression and to provide for the well-being of its poor and disadvantaged citizens until such structural impediments to individual self-actualization are eliminated. I admit that I do not have as much of a complete understanding of this "Principle of Subsidiarity" as it factors into the Social Justice teachings of the Church as I would like, and so I would appreciate any elaboration, clarification, or opinion on the subject that anyone more knowledgable about this subject can provide.

Taxpayer Justice for Illegal Immigrants

Eduardo Porter has written a revelatory article in the New York Times about the real contributions Illegal Immigrants make the the Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid programs in the United States and the exploitation that they face in never being able to benefit from their contributions. His article explodes the cost/benefits myth that illegal immigrants take more from the US public coffers than they contribute to it. After you read this article, if you aren't moved by the injustice of the situation, you might be inclinded to get on your knees and thank the illegal immigrants for their selfless sacrifice on behalf of the U.S. Citizen's welfare in retirement. For instance, read this little bit from the beginning of Porter's article:

Since illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States six years ago, Ángel Martínez has done backbreaking work, harvesting asparagus, pruning grapevines and picking the ripe fruit. More recently, he has also washed trucks, often working as much as 70 hours a week, earning $8.50 to $12.75 an hour.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Martínez, 28, has not given much thought to Social Security's long-term financial problems. But Mr. Martínez - who comes from the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico and hiked for two days through the desert to enter the United States near Tecate, some 20 miles east of Tijuana - contributes more than most Americans to the solvency of the nation's public retirement system.

Last year, Mr. Martínez paid about $2,000 toward Social Security and $450 for Medicare through payroll taxes withheld from his wages. Yet unlike most Americans, who will receive some form of a public pension in retirement and will be eligible for Medicare as soon as they turn 65, Mr. Martínez is not entitled to benefits.

He belongs to a big club. As the debate over Social Security heats up, the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year.

How is this possible, you might ask? Well, employers demand that potential employees provide a Social Security number to prove that they can work legally in the United States. Then, without verifying or checking the accuracy of these Social Security numbers, many of which are fraudulent, employers deduct payroll taxes from the earning of these employees and turn this over, along with their own matching contributions, to the U.S. Government. This money just sits there, adding to the available pool of resources that help to keep Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare solvent. Current and future retirees in the United States will benefit from the contributions that these illegal immigrants make to the system by their hard work, and these illegal immigrants will never see a dime of their contributions in their own retirement.

Not only does this demolish the claim by the anti-immigrant, nativist crowd that illegal immigrants are leeches on the U.S. welfare state, but it also shows, once again, the double exploitation illegal migrants face in our country. They contribute mightily to the local, state, and federal treasuries of the United States by way of paying taxes (and not only payroll taxes, but also sales taxes, and property taxes via rents), but they are facing efforts to exclude them from receiving the benefits that their tax contributions have earned them.

The next time you hear anti-immigrant, pro-Minutemen, xenophobic blowhards bring out this reason to justify their border vigilantism, feel free to mention this little fact to them.

Read Porter's whole article for the full extent and ramifications of this reality. It will give you a new appreciation for the value of the illegal immigrant. It will also give you a new read on the US Bishops Pastoral Letter calling for "Economic Justice for All."

A Reminder from "Economic Justice for All"

"320. Third, the serious distortion of national economic priorities produced by massive national spending on defense must be remedied. Clear-sighted consideration of the role of government shows that the government and the economy are already closely intertwined through military research and defense contracts. Defense-related industries make up a major part of the U.S. economy and have intimate links with both the military and civilian government; they often depart from the competitive model of free-market capitalism. Moreover, the dedication of so much of the national budget to military purposes has been disastrous for the poor and vulnerable members of our own and other nations. The nation's spending priorities need to be revised in the interests of both justice and peace."

From Economic Justice for All: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy by the U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1986. [Emphasis added.]

Karol Josef Wojtyla - Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

May he rest in peace in the presence of the God he loved and served.