Romney Goes Bold: Pro-Life Catholic Paul Ryan Chosen as Republican Vice Presidential Candidate

8/13/2012

(Page 2 of 2)

encourage my readers - be careful of the caricatures of Paul Ryan and his positions. Find out for yourself. Listen to the man. Read his well reasoned efforts to apply the social doctrine of the Catholic Church by exercising his own prudential judgment. Compare it to the Social Teaching. You can find it in the Catholic Catechism and compiled in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Buy the book and study it! Be wary of the self styled 'experts" and make up your own mind.

In June of 2011 then Archbishop (now Cardinal) Timothy Dolan, the President of the US Bishops Conference, and Congressman Paul Ryan exchanged letters which I claimed in an article back then would "most certainly have an impact in the upcoming 2012 Presidential race." I had no idea how accurate my prediction would be.

Now, Paul Ryan is the nominee of the Republican Party for the second highest office in the nation, Vice President. He not only knows Catholic Social Doctrine, he maintains that he actively seeks to integrate the principles it offers into his own public service and the policy proposals he offers.

The Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church confronts what Pope Benedict properly called the "Dictatorship of Relativism" even before he assumed the Papal office. It insists there are unchangeable truths which are revealed by the Natural Law, can be known through the exercise of reason and should inform the social order in every just society.

At the foundation of those truths is the dignity of every human person at every age and stage. To be Pro-Life is NOT to be "single issue" in your political positions; it is about having a world view. It is the dignity of the human person which requires a respect for every human life whether that life be in the first home of the womb, a wheelchair, a jail cell, a hospital room, a hospice, a senior center or a soup kitchen.

Another one of these truths is that marriage is between one man and one woman, intended for life, and ordered toward the bearing and raising of children in the family. Marriage is not some social construct which can be redefined by courts or legislatures. It is the foundation for family and family is the first society, first church, first school, first economy, first government and first mediating institution. The first community which humanizes and civilizes all of us is the family.

Another is that all human persons created in the Image of God are created for relationship and called to human community. We can never fully experience human flourishing outside of social relationships. These relationships are perfective of our human person because we are by nature - and grace - made for these relationships. Catholic Social Thought does not begin with the individual but with the family. The social doctrine affirms our obligation in solidarity to one another. We are our brother/sister's keeper.

The social doctrine rejects a notion of "freedom" which begins and ends with the isolated, atomistic, person as the measure of its application. Authentic human freedom must be exercised within a moral constitution. We will only grow in freedom when we choose what is good and what is true. Otherwise "freedom" becomes a counterfeit and enslaves us, as individuals and as nations.

The social doctrine offers principles to help us order our economies. It does not propose any particular economic theory. It insists that every economic order be at the service of the human person, human freedom, human flourishing and the family. We are to give a love of preference to the poor, recognizing our solidarity with them. However, this call to solidarity is to be applied through the application of the principle of subsidiarity, rejecting all forms of dehumanizing collectivism, either of the left or the right.

The market economy has been affirmed in recent social teaching - when properly understood and morally structured. However, the Catholic Church stood against the materialism of the atheistic Marxist system and now properly cautions Nations which have adopted a form of liberal capitalism of the dangers of "economism" or materialism which promotes the use of persons as products and fails to recognize the value of being over acquiring.

The truths and principles contained within Catholic social doctrine are not merely "religious" positions, in the sense that only religious people need assent to them. They are revealed by the Natural Law and can be known through the exercise of reason. The truths are true for all people and for all time. The Church calls us to offer them as leaven to be worked into the loaf of human culture.

The April 29, 2011 letter from now Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan to Cardinal Dolan can be read here. Cardinal Dolan's response can be read here. Read them both for yourself.

The Congressman's budget proposals were objected to by some, including some faithful Catholics. What made this letter important is that the Congressman explained the rationale behind his proposals within the framework of a sincere effort to apply the principles found within Catholic Social Thought. He cited the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church throughout the letter referring to both the obligation of solidarity and its application in light of the principle of subsidiarity.

Archbishop Dolan's response began with these words: "Thank you for your kind and enlightening letter of April 29, 2011. I deeply appreciate your letter's assurances of your continued attention to the guidance of Catholic social justice in the current delicate budget considerations in Congress. As you allude to in your letter, the budget is not just about numbers. It reflects the very values of our nation. As many religious leaders have commented, budgets are moral statements."

"As is so clear from your correspondence, the light of our faith - anchored in the Bible, the tradition of the Church, and the Natural Law - can help illumine and guide solid American constitutional wisdom. Thus I commend your letter's attention to the important values of fiscal responsibility; sensitivity to the foundational role of the family; the primacy of the dignity of the human person and the protection of all human life; a concrete solicitude for the poor and the vulnerable, especially those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty; and putting into practice the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, here at home and internationally within the context of a commitment to the common good shared by government and other mediating institutions alike."

I asked in an article I wrote back then whether that exchange of letters between Paul Ryan and now Cardinal Dolan signaled the liberation of Catholic Social Thought from some who seek to use it as a proof text for their own political agendas. Often, that has meant opposition from those who would be considered "on the left" in contemporary political parlance. Sadly, too often those who might be considered "on the right", have simply ignored it.

The principles contained with Catholic Social thought require the exercise of prudential judgment in their application. Agree or disagree with Paul Ryan's exercise of his prudential judgment - and his proposed legislative solutions to the current fiscal crisis- he did exactly what a Catholic in public service should do with the Social Doctrine of the Church.

Mitt Romney's bold choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate ensures that the exchange of correspondence between the Cardinal of New York and the Republican Vice Presidential nominee will now become a part of framing the issues in what promises to be one of the most important Presidential contests in U.S. history. The principles of Catholic Social Teaching and their application have now entered the 2012 campaign.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, Vice president, President, Obama, campaign 2012, social doctrine, election, Norfolk, Virginia, Cardinal Dolan, Keith A Fournier

NEWSLETTERS »

Previous Page 1 | 2

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 10 of 86 Comments

Judy Claar
8 months ago
Vance, Jo Ann & Rob, Indeed, you are all right. I especially liked Vances' keen observation of Rob "looking through a Socialist's Prism". And Jo Ann's diplomacy on Globalization. Rob, I enjoy your appraisal through the "Socialist's Prism"...(I like that term, can't you tell? no deragog intended). But I must say, you do come through quite clearly, when you See through the King's Prism as well. Praise the King...
vance
8 months ago
Rob, interesting response to JoAnn, What you told her is correct about companies and stocks. I'm surprised how you view companies through a socialist prism. I am very familiar with the aircraft industry. They hire and layoff workers by the thousands like the ebb and flow of a tide. The workers of Boeing and MacDonnell-Douglas understood the nature of the business. Large contracts come in, so they hire thousands of people to fill the contracts. When the contracts are filled and fewer coming in, they layoff people. One year, two years down the road, the companies will get more contracts and hire back the workers. This is the nature of all businesses. They are there to produce products and provide services and "Make Money". They are not social programs. Companies can not afford to keep a person on board to sit around and do nothing. Yes, cost of labor is a companies largest expense but the EPA under Obama has become an even larger expense. When the EPA imposes unnecessary regulations on a business, it will cost the company many thousands if not millions to comply with the standards. If business is slow as it is today, it's more cost effective to relocate the plant in Ireland or China than to go out of business. It seems that Obama and the EPA could care less about the workers as they impose these business killing regulations.
JoAnn
8 months ago
Rob: That wasn't the globalization I was talking about. Believe me, when what I.m talking about happens, (and we are almost there) no one is going to like it. If Obama gets in for a 2nd term, he will relinquish this nation's sovereignty to the UN. Prepare everybody. God bless.
Rob
8 months ago
JoAnn, because I have been a corporate tax professional and in the corporate environment for awhile, I've come to know a few things. What drives the public company today is a concept known as shareholder value. A company will do whatever it can to ensure the stock holders are happy. This is a stark difference from what was taught to me graduate school where companies had steakholders of equal importance (stockholders, employees & creditors). Today employees are valued no more than copier machines. When the stock falls and they need to cut expenses, they go to employees, and they think nothing of buying and selling companies that continually displace workers. Having worked on several large M&A deals, I can assure you that no one is sitting around trying to come up with ways not to displace workers. It's just the cost of doing business these days. Outsourcing jobs has become second nature for manufacturing concerns because there is no conceivable way we can compete with the wages paid in China and India and South America. Many of which are below our minimum wage.

I will agree with you that we should work to ensure our regulatory climate is conducive to business growth in this country. Trust me when I say it's not the EPA driving businesses out but labor costs. Is the EPA an added costs, sure, but it's not the drive. And taxes are easily planned around. With a big enough lobbying effort, the effective tax rate is driven down. As we've become obsessed with stock value, we've done whatever possible to increase that value. Outsourcing is just part of the play book now. They aren't making some bold statement against our regulatory environment, but doing it strictly for the bottom line for the benefit of the shareholders. Everything else is a distant second on that list.

If I owned a company in today's environment where I am beholden to shareholders who care little about the business you actually run, you are right, I would probably outsource. But we wouldn't be sitting around the board room bemoaning the EPA or taxes, the accountants would be telling us how much $$ we are going to save on labor moving our operations to some third world country, never mind that oftentimes these countries represent everything we do not stand for.

Just as surely as our country's moral decay is destroying this nation, so is our love of money. Those who own the nations wealth care little about how they earn it, so long as they do. If that means they inadvertantly strengthen our enemies, so be it. We expect no patriotism from our businesses. You speak of globilization, business achieved that decades ago.
vance
8 months ago
JoAnn, "Freedom or Free Stuff" You hit the nail on the head. you and I have been around for a while and have witnessed the Party of Death "Buying" votes with taxpayer money. This shows how evil these people are. They play off people's Greed when they promise something for nothing. The Death Party plays off people's Envy when they pitch the old "Class Warfare" and play off people's Hate while they play the "Race Card". The latest Obama pitch is playing off people's Sloth with more Food Stamps and Welfare. He allowed everyone and anyone who "Claims" to be disabled to collect Disability Benefits. The Death Party is one group of insidious folks. Keep up the great posts. God bless.
Judy Claar
8 months ago
Rob, Jo Ann & Buster: Enjoyed reading your dialogue! Glad to have you on board Buster! Also read your comments To debbie. Very Good. Rob and Jo Ann, I think many agree with you about more jobs in the US of A. BAD MOVE to be indebted to China and no jobs at home! We are indeed going "Global". Last Christmas, our Entire family decided to buy gifts that were USA made only. Well, it was SOOOOO HARD, that not everyone could comply! And I understood, because I had the same problem. Our shopping took FOREVER...in a manner of speaking of course, and yes, even we could not comply with all on Santa's List. It is darn hard to find articles made in the US. It is a crime! Keep posting! Live Christ Today...
Judy Claar
8 months ago
DEACON KEITH: Thank you for writing as a private citizen. Thank you for sharing your unforgettable experience. Thank you for sharing your viewpoint. A wonderful insightful article!
Live Christ Today....
JoAnn
8 months ago
Rob: Creating jobs in China is what Obama is famous for. I agree, our free market industry has to come back to America. But they have to have the environment here to make it worth while to come back. Overburdening regulations and high taxes is not the way to do it. We all know China is cheating by manipulating the dollar and cheap labor. If you owned a company, you would do the same thing. Don't tell me you wouldn't because I wouldn't believe you. I would do the same. After all, being in business is for the profit, right.? You have to admit Obama has made it very undesirable for companies to expand. He is putting them out of business. For him to say that the private sector is doing just fine means that he is either very naive when it comes to business policies or he is an out and out liar. Have you read Agenda 21 yet? If not, please do so. You will be enlightened to where this nation/world is headed if we don't try and stop it. If you are for globalization, that's your right. I am not. I know, eventually, that will happen because prophecy says so. I look at it this way. If Romney wins, God has given us a reprieve and we better not blow it. If Obama wins, God has had enough and we had better get ready for a very bumpy, ugly ride. Everyone should be praying to our Blessed Mother and St. Michael and pleading with God for mercy, because when there is a global government, global religion and global healthcare (yes, Obamacare and all social medicine throughtout the world will be one) it is not going to be very pleasant living anywhere. We were at the mercy of private health insurance before. Are you telling me you were getting inadequate health care? God bless.
Rob
8 months ago
JoAnn, if you do not have medical insurance you are in the same boat. You can't get that done in an ER visit. And once those problems creep up, good luck trying to get insured. Once ACA is repealed this person will be at the complete mercy of the private insurance market.

I think we need to really put America first. We need to stop sending all our work overseas so people can actually find jobs so the need for "free stuff" as you put it is no longer necessary. We need an investor class in this country that shows some modicum of patriotism for this country. If we have any hope of fixing our broken social programs, we'd better start leaning on our so called job creators. Creating jobs in China is not what we should be encouraging companies to do.
JoAnn
9 months ago
Freedom or "free stuff?" Choose. You can only pick one. People who choose freedom are Patriots - people who choose free stuff are Socialists. And to the Socialists, I would like to remind you that there is no such thing as "free stuff." Whoever, gives you the "free stuff" is also the "whoever" that can take your "free stuff" away. Socialism is a euphemism for communisim. Communism will not give medical care to anyone, if it will be too costly to the "collective." I have, or should I say had a friend, who lived in Europe, I will not say what country, She was in need of a heart transplant. They put her on a "waiting list." There is nothing wrong with that as everyone in need of a transplant will always have to wait a while for that type of treatment. BUT because of her age (65), younger patients were always treated first. Needless to say, she never got that transplant and she is now with the Lord. This is the type of government and healthcare that Obama's "hope & change" is all about. Is that what we want for this country? God bless.

Prev12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment