“The federal budget should protect human life and dignity, make the poor a top priority and promote the common good of all during tough economic times…

“A just framework for future budgets cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons. It requires shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues, eliminating unnecessary military and other spending and addressing the long-term costs of health insurance and retirement programs fairly.”

While the bishops expressed their appreciation towards the FY 2011 budget, which is scheduled for a vote this week, they also offered three moral criteria to guide budgetary decisions:

“1. Every budget decision should be assessed by whether it protects of threatens human life and dignity.

2. A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects “the least of these” (Matthew 25). The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty should come first.

3. Government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to promote the common good of all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to live in dignity in difficult economic times.”

To read the full text of the letter, visit the USCCB site.

Yesterday morning the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services launched a major campaign to confront global poverty. Dubbed Catholics Confront Global Poverty, the Campaign aims to mobilize one million U.S. Catholics to advocate to end poverty, hunger and disease around the world.

Bishop Howard Hubbard, Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace at the USCCB and Bishop of Albany, NY, launched the campaign along with Mr. Ken Hackett, President of Catholic Relief Services. Bishop Fernando Bargallo of Merlo-Moreno Argentina and Ugandan Archbishop John Baptist Odama took part in the event as well. Archbishop Odama closed his message with a charge for “people of good faith and good will to advocate for the promotion and defense of human dignity.”

The launch took place at the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, held on Capitol Hill here in Washington. I attended the event along with hundreds of leaders from across the US. They are in town this week to share, learn, advocate and strategize. It was an exciting moment where local and national leaders joined together “in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the developing world.”

The Catholics Confront Global Poverty initiative is built on the foundation of the earlier Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty that started in 2005. To learn more about the initiative, visit www.usccb.org/globalpoverty and www.crs.org/globalpoverty.

I was able to talk with Bishop Hubbard after the event and he offered his thoughts for you in this video message:

-Adam Phillips

From the CNS:

“Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was joined by the presidents of bishops’ conferences in other G-8 countries in reminding the leaders of their promise to spend $50 billion annually on development assistance — with half going to Africa — by 2010. “This commitment must be met and additional commitments should be made in the areas of health care, education and humanitarian aid,” the bishops wrote.