Bishops: "An economy that cannot provide employment…is broken"

The United States bishops yesterday released their annual statement for Labor Day:

“This Labor Day, the economic facts are stark and the human costs are real: millions of our sisters and brothers are without work, raising children in poverty and haunted by fears about their economic security,” said Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, California in “Human Costs and Moral Challenges of a Broken Economy,” the annual Labor Day statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He added, “These are not just economic problems, but also human tragedies, moral challenges, and tests of our faith.”

Bishop Blaire, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said this Labor Day comes at a time when nine percent of Americans are looking for work and cannot find it, while others live in fear of losing their jobs. He cited Pope Leo XIII’s groundbreaking encyclical Rerum Novarum as the inspiration for this year’s statement, and added, “We need to look beyond the economic indicators, stock market gyrations, and political conflicts and focus on the often invisible burdens of ordinary workers and their families, many of whom are hurting, discouraged, and left behind by this economy.” He further stated, “An economy that cannot provide employment, decent wages and benefits, and a sense of participation and ownership for its workers is broken in fundamental ways.”

Read more.