LA TImes: Paul Ryan's budget logic is quandary for some Catholics

His faith is devout, but church leaders worry about plans that could cut the safety net for the poor.


...the former altar boy also cites church teaching in explaining his positions on government spending, deficit reduction and entitlements — the issues that have catapulted his rapid rise....

Such statements have raised the ire of some Roman Catholics who argue the Wisconsin Republican is twisting church teachings on caring for the poor and shielding the vulnerable to justify cutting the social safety net......

it is the Ryan budget — with its steep cuts to food stamps, healthcare for children and the disabled, and social programs, while sparing the Pentagon — that has put him at odds with some in his church.

Catholic nuns made a multistate bus tour this summer to bring attention to the harm they say the Ryan budget would cause the poor communities they serve and the "enormous moral choices facing our country."

In an unusually pointed correspondence, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged lawmakers to consider the moral implications of their actions as they prepared to vote on the Ryan budget.

"We join with other Christian leaders in calling for a 'circle of protection' around our brothers and sisters at home and abroad who are poor and vulnerable," the bishops wrote in the spring. They said the "moral measure" of the debate "is not which party wins or which powerful interests prevail, but rather how those who are jobless, hungry, homeless or poor are treated."

Ryan took on the criticism with a forceful defense of his policies.

"I suppose there are some Catholics who for a long time have thought they had a monopoly of sorts … not exactly on heaven, but on the social teaching of our church," Ryan said in a speech at Georgetown University. "Of course there can be differences among faithful Catholics on this."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ryan-catholic-20120813,0,3516069.story