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Toby
Terrar, "The U.S. Bishops' `Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching
and the U.S. Economy,' (1986): Some Passages which Touch on the Housing
Problem." This article originally appeared in Religious Socialism, volume 14, no. 1 (Philadelphia, Spring 1990),
pp. 7-8. (P181-10.doc).
The bishop's Pastoral Letter is about the U.S. economy in general; it
is not specifically about the housing problem. But housing is part of the
economy. The pastoral contains a moral principle and sufficient empirical data
that it is possible to get an idea of what the bishops think is the Catholic
evaluation of and solution to the housing problem.
The poor and their demands are the
norm, according to the bishops, for Catholics in evaluating the housing
problem. The demands of the of the poor are the demands of God (vox populi, vox
dei). Some relevant passages from the pastoral are:
Paragraph
319: The impact of housing policy on the poor is the primary criteria
for judging the moral value of American housing policy.
Paragraph
38: Biblical justice is measured by the treatment of the powerless in
society.
Paragraph
36: It is our right and our duty to protect the most vulnerable.
Paragraph
52: Catholic social justice, following scripture, gives a
"preferential option for the poor."
The empirical data
mentioned in the pastoral letter confirm the obvious, housing for the poor is
not adequate. Some relevant passages from the pastoral are:
Paragraph
15: Thirty-three million Americans (15 percent of the population) live
in poverty according to the U.S. government. Thirty million more are in poverty
"by any reasonable standard." The government defines poverty as
inadequate housing such as families living in a single room, in dilapidated and
unsanitary housing and in housing which gives insufficient protection against
the elements.
Paragraph
176 (footnote 31): The 33 million in poverty are mainly children (13
million), women heads-of-households who work and seniors.
Paragraph
176: Racism is characteristic of U.S. housing policy: one in every two
black children under six are inadequately housed (two-thirds of the total
population in poverty are white).
Paragraph
172: The bishops are reminded of the demands of the poor because
"the poor sleep in our doorways."
Paragraph
355: The bishops are also aware of the housing problem because they are
a deliverer of private human services such as housing. They know first hand the
private solution (church basements, community shelters) is not solving the
problem.
Paragraph
177: Those living in inadequate housing have a higher rate of
miscarriage, of premature birth, of low birth weight, of physical and mental
impairment and of death before their first birthday. Miscarriage from
inadequate housing is just as bad as abortion from medical intervention.
As set forth by the
bishops, U.S. housing policy does not meet Catholic moral standards. The poor
demand adequate housing and it is not provided. The pastoral gives what the
bishops believe are some indications as to a Catholic solution to the housing
problem.
Paragraph 183:
29 percent of American wealth is in housing and real estate.
71 percent
of American wealth is in capital.
10
percent of American families own 57 percent
of capital.
10
percent of American families own 86 percent
of the total financial assets
(excluding equity in housing).
Paragraph
184: The distribution of wealth in the U.S. has gotten increasingly
unequal in the twentieth century.
Paragraph
113 (footnote 63): Quotes Pope John Paul II, On
Human Work, 12: "This gigantic and powerful instrument--the whole
collection of the means of production that in a sense are considered synonymous
with 'capital'--is the result of work and bears the signs of human labor."
Paragraph
17 (introduction): John XXIII stated: "All people have a right to
shelter."
Paragraph
156: It is necessary to have a planned economy in order to end the
housing problem (which is not to say the economy is not planned currently, but
it is planned for the benefit of the capitalist).
Paragraph
259: Catholic teaching requires political activity (individualism alone
is not Catholic teaching).
Paragraph
63: Human life is life in community; the bible holds humans are
basically cooperative.
Paragraph
91: Meeting necessities in housing comes before profit; the profit
motivation is not conductive to the common good.
Paragraph
4: There are 800 million people worldwide that live in "absolute
poverty."
The guidelines which
the bishops give as to a Catholic solution to the housing problem are the
guidelines which socialist nations follow. The socialist nations, none of which
have America's wealth, have a solution to the housing problem. The bishops and
their pastoral were criticized in the press by those who have contempt for
socialism and contempt (as seen in U.S. housing policy) for the voice of 33
million women, children and seniors demanding justice. The critics of the
pastoral want the Catholic moral norm to be that of the Democratic and
Republican parties. They hold up as a virtue a program of narrow self interest
and the worship of money, plus hate and apathy toward the rights of the poor--a
hate shown in deeds, if not in words. This is not to say that socialists, such
as Jesse Jackson, do not operate in the Democratic party, but they are not
dominant.
Unlike America's 50 million
Catholics, a majority of whom are white, a majority of the world's 800 million
Catholics are people of color, living in Asia, Latin America and Africa, where
inadequate housing is even worse than in America. The world's Catholics have no
particular loyalty to the morality of the Democratic and Republican parties.
The bishops, in reflecting the demands of the poor, are merely reflecting the
demands of most Catholics.
During the McCarthy period those who
hated socialism tried to make socialism a crime and tried and sometimes did put
socialists in jail, tried to deport them, tried to have them lose their jobs in
the government, the media, the universities, the churches and industry. The
voice of the poor is the voice of God. The McCarthites hate those (including
God) who reflect the demands of the poor. The bishops do not mention the word
"socialism," but that words seems to reflect their deeds and actions.
They are telling us the voice of socialism is the voice of God.