Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Catholic Francis Rooney Forgets Church's Teaching

An (R) Congress-critter named Francis Rooney who served as GWBush's ambassador to the Vatican writes an essay about 'how the FedGov can fix income disparity.'

He is joined in this by a Hindu (D) representing a far-left California district.

Rooney flaps the jaw about "Catholic teaching."

...St. Peter’s recent successors call on us to focus on decreasing economic inequality. John Paul II’s encyclical, "Centesimus Annus" declared that “the free market is the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs”, but “there are many human needs which find no place on the market.” In his 2013 New Year message, Pope Benedict XVI said he was alarmed “to see hotbeds of tension and conflict caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor” and called for a new approach to the economy....
As usual, statistics and citations regarding "inequality" are missing.  The very selective CEO/Lowest-paid worker ratio is presented as some sort of "evidence."  In fact, it's merely inflammatory polemic.

And of course, "Congress" can fix all this.

....Congress has an important role in reducing income inequality. There are some actions that are bipartisan. We should create more career and technical training (CTE) opportunities, invest in rural broadband, expand small business loans to rural entrepreneurs and fund infrastructure improvements.

Specifically, the government should target areas suffering bankruptcies and economic distress where it would help facilitate job creation, entrepreneurial opportunities and increased community involvement. Because corporations are often creatures of their markets and competitive pressures, they will respond to external influences including legislative or regulatory changes promoting CTE, the minimum wage and improved working conditions....
Apparently Cong. Rooney missed the bedrock Catholic social-justice teaching called "SUBSIDIARITY."  I know, it's a big word with lots of letters, but maybe he could look it up and--maybe--learn something by reading the definition.

Rooney claims Catholicism without knowing Rule #1 of Catholic social doctrine on Governments?

Yup.  That's what we have these days.  He's a Bushman, after all.

1 comment:

Fr. VF said...

There's a technical term in Catholic moral theology for coercive actions that reduce income inequality and wealth disparity: stealing.