Public employees in Wisconsin are getting support from Milwaukee Catholic Archbishop Jerome Listecki.Cap Times
On Wednesday, Listecki issued a statement calling for Wisconsin legislators to abide by a "moral obligation" to fully consider the "legitimate rights" of public employees.
BizTimes posted the statement from Listecki, who indicated he was speaking on behalf of the bishops throughout the state:
"The Church is well aware that difficult economic times call for hard choices and financial responsibility to further the common good. Our own dioceses and parishes have not been immune to the effects of the current economic difficulties. But hard times do not nullify the moral obligation each of us has to respect the legitimate rights of workers.
"As Pope Benedict wrote in his 2009 encyclical, Caritas in veritate:
‘Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labor unions. Hence traditional networks of solidarity have more and more obstacles to overcome. The repeated calls issued within the Church's social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum [60], for the promotion of workers' associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honored today even more than in the past, as a prompt and far-sighted response to the urgent need for new forms of cooperation at the international level, as well as the local level. [#25]'
To their credit they did put the rest about workers can be in the wrong too.
So was Listecki actually showing his support for unions? I'm leaning toward yes.
