Paul Ryan NCReg op-ed: Applying Our Enduring Truths to Our Defining Challenge

The Catholic Church offers a rich overview of its thought, summarized in the Compendium of Social Doctrine, to guide Catholics in bringing truth to society’s problems. In his introduction, Cardinal Renato Martino, then president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, wrote, “This area belongs in a particular way” to those lay faithful who are active “in the social sector.”

As a congressman and Catholic layman, I am persuaded that Catholic social truths are in accord with the “self-evident truths” our Founders bequeathed to us in the founding ideas of America: independence, limited government and the dignity and freedom of every human person. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, I am tasked with applying these enduring principles to the urgent social problems of our time: an economy that is not providing enough opportunities for our citizens, a safety net that is failing our most vulnerable populations, and a crushing burden of debt that is threatening our children and grandchildren with a diminished future.

These problems are related: The debt is weighing on job creation today, closing off the most promising avenues for the poor to rise. As a result, more and more of society’s most vulnerable remain mired in public-assistance programs whose outdated structures often act as a trap that hinders upward mobility. And this economic stagnation and growing dependence fuels the growing national debt — a vicious cycle that calls for bold reforms equal to the challenge.

We cannot continue to ignore this problem. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has rightly termed this attitude “living in untruth … at the expense of future generations.” In approaching this problem as a lay Catholic in public life, I have found it useful to apply the twin principles of solidarity (recognition of the common ties that unite all human beings in equal dignity) and subsidiarity (respect for the relationships between individuals and intermediate social groups such as families, businesses, schools, local communities and state governments).

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/applying-our-enduring-truths-to-our-defining-challenge/#ixzz1t5Dogvjz

And now this:

Nearly 90 faculty members and priests at Georgetown University have signed a letter criticizing Rep. Paul Ryan’s visit to the campus tomorrow. They say his budget plan represents a “continuing misuse of Catholic teaching” because it allegedly hurts the poor.  [it would seem Dorothy just noticed the man behind the curtain controlling the Spirit of Vatican II  "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"]

details at Catholic League

Paul Ryan is as close to the ideal Catholic candidate for president that we have seen.  He has hit home run after home run.