As Congress goes back to the drawing board to consider the nation's finances after today's failed bailout vote, the country's bishops have their own list of principles they hope will be taken into account.In a letter sent to government leaders Friday, Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, chairman of the episcopal conference's Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, urged a consideration of five key principles when considering how to bail out the nation's failing economy.
He first promised that the bishops are praying for the situation, which he called "both terribly disturbing and enormously complicated." Then, acknowledging that "my brother bishops and I do not bring technical expertise to these complicated matters," he affirmed that "our faith and moral principles can help guide the search for just and effective responses to the economic turmoil threatening our people."
The first key Bishop Murphy encouraged was taking into account the "human and moral dimensions" of the crisis. "Economic arrangements, structures and remedies should have as a fundamental purpose safeguarding human life and dignity," he affirmed. The prelate said a "scandalous search for excessive economic rewards," which gets to the point of exacerbating the vulnerable, is an example of "an economic ethic that places economic gain above all other values.This ignores the impact of economic decisions on the lives of real people as well as the ethical dimension of the choices we make and the moral responsibility we have for their effect on people," Bishop Murphy wrote.
Second, the New York bishop called for "responsibility and accountability." "Clearly, effective measures are required which address and alter the behaviors, practices and misjudgments that led to this crisis. [
] Those who directly contributed to this crisis or profited from it should not be rewarded or escape accountability for the harm they have done," he said.
