NEW USCCB-SPONSORED WEB SITE HIGHLIGHTS CATHOLIC TEACHING ON ECONOMIC LIFE

New Web site views economic crisis through lens of Catholic faith
Features resources for addressing moral and human elements of crisis


WASHINGTON—In response to the current economic crisis and its moral and human impacts, a new USCCB Web site has been developed to better share Catholic social teaching on economic life and how it can shape the responses of Catholics to the economic crisis.

Catholic Teaching on Economic Life ( www.usccb.org/jphd/economiclife ) features the ten-point “A Catholic Framework for Economic Life,” which is downloadable in handout form. The Web site is sponsored by the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

The site includes statements on economic life from both the U.S. bishops and Pope Benedict XVI and the Holy See, ideas for parishes, stories of groups responding to the crisis, prayer guides, Podcasts, videos, and even an interactive quiz. The site also features a database of information on issues related to the crisis, including health, housing, labor, and trade. All resources are designed for practical use on the parish level for making sense of the economic crisis.

Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee of Domestic Social Justice and Human Development, outlined a central theme in a letter to the nation’s leaders:

“This crisis involves far more than just economic or technical matters, but has enormous human impact and clear ethical dimensions which should be at the center of debate and decisions on how to move forward. Families are losing their homes. Retirement savings are at risk. People are losing jobs and benefits. Economic arrangements, structures and remedies should have as a fundamental purpose safeguarding human life and dignity.”

"Our hope is that Catholics across the United States can use these new resources to understand the economic crisis in the light of Church teaching on economic life. One of the central themes of this teaching is that the dignity of the human person always comes first. This is a message of hope in tough economic times,” said John Carr, Executive Director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development.
To view the new Web site, go to www.usccb.org/jphd/economiclife .