Choosing to not call universal healthcare socialism will not change what it really is.

It is a good thing to see Catholic bishops say that they are not adhering to any particular party line. I have come to calling the 2 major parties in our country the \Demicans\ and the \Republocrats\. I use the terms to identify their eventual philosophical convergence toward Free Masonic values: Materialism, universalism, and ecumenism which ends up at syncretism!

Alas, I have found that I have lost all trust in the US Bishops (with the exception of a courageous few). If they can not bring themselves to call predatory homosexuality what it is (and are willing to pay $2 million of our dollars to be told so), then they are likely to hire some \economic experts\ in order to tell them that \universal healthcare\ is not socialism… and that good and valid (though unenforced) immigration laws are some how \anti Catholic\.

And so this is why I tithe not to any diocese, but to religious orders who work for an authentic reform. I vet carefully where my money goes… this is the responsibility of every Catholic. Blind giving is not a truly Catholic response.

The best thing that any bishop can do for his flock is to read the encyclicals himself instead of trusting \experts\ to interpret them for him. Neither party holds the key. And until the bishops get past their myopic view of the last council and look at ALL the magisterial teaching and all the previous councils… no serious Catholic will take them seriously.

For example, can you answer the question of the above commenter about what you mean by universal health care? And if you don’t answer here, where can I get an answer?
Do you mean government-mandated and government-provided universal health care or just that everyone should have a way to get health care?

If the Church supports gov’t mandated/provided health care, this seems to go contrary to your definition of subsidiarity: “that is, that the smaller units in our society, such as family, neighborhood, Church, and volunteer organizations, are usually preferable to big government in solving social ills.”
This seems, to me, to contradict what you wrote later…”principle of solidarity, namely, society’s shared duties to one another, especially the poor and struggling . . .” Is this calling for more government to take care of this or on people to do this through their own individual efforts?
Hoping for a response as I seek the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Charity must be voluntary. Charity is gift. Gifts must be given; they cannot be taken by force. Charity must be freely given, or it is not charity.

These two facts together mean that all governments are incapable of doing charity. The only money that government has is money which has come from some form of taxation. This money, having not been freely given, cannot be used to do charity. So governments are incapable of doing charity.

We should never desire that governments engage in any form of charity. When we do, we are only deluding ourselves. We are asking government to forcefully take assets away from one group of people in order to provide benefits to another group. It is not much different than asking a street mugger to pull another job, and then donate the money to some worthy cause. It results in theft, and redistribution of stolen goods; it is not charity.

The end never justifies the means. The end of providing health care and helping the poor is laudable. But such help must be truly charitable, and therefore it must be truly voluntary. The means of government force and taxation cannot be justified by the good end of providing charity to those who need it.

The good bishop ought to lobby for government to completely get out of the social services business, so that groups like Catholic Charities can do the job even better. Not only would the poor be helped more by removing the inefficiency of civil government, but the help and charity would be true charity, and therefore morally good.

I am open to logical arguments to convince me that I am wrong, but in the absence of good logical arguments, I believe the bishop is making a mistake.

Jesus didn’t call for Caesar to care for the sick and poor. He called for us as individuals to do so. And that difference makes all the difference.