Issues

Where does the Catholic Church stand on issues critical to the success of public and private education?

• Supports expanding tax credits for Rhode Island businesses who contribute to a “scholarship granting organization” that provides scholarships to low-income children who want to attend a nonpublic school.
• Since Catholic school parents pay taxes and ease financial burdens on cities and towns, supports the equitable participation of nonpublic school children in federal- and state-funded programs.
• Supports full funding of public schools for the transportation of nonpublic school students.
• Supports parental choice in education by broadening financial assistance to families through tax credits or other means to allow their children to attend the school of their choice. Parents should be the first and primary educators of their children.
• Supports continuation of assistance for students enrolled in accredited nonpublic schools through the textbook loan program.

“In our Catholic tradition, health care is a basic human right. Access to health care should not depend on where a person works, how much a family earns, or where a person lives. Instead, every person, created in the image and likeness of God, has a right to life and to those things necessary to sustain life, including affordable, quality health care. This teaching is rooted in the biblical call to heal the sick and to serve “the least of these,” our concern for human life and dignity, and the principle of the common good.” – A Framework for Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Protecting Human Life, Promoting Human Dignity, Pursuing the Common Good, USCCB

Learn how the Catholic Bishops are trying to fix the health care reform law.
US Conference of Catholic Bishops Timeline of Health Care Reform
Prayer for Protection of Conscience Rights in Health Care

We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other. Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory, and should instead be complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land. That is the vision of our founding and our Constitution, which guarantees citizens of all religious faiths the right to contribute to our common life together.

More on Religious Liberty at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website

Scripture teaches that God has a special concern for the poor and vulnerable. The Church calls on all of us to embrace this preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, to embody it in our lives, and to work to have it shape public policies and priorities. A fundamental measure of our society is how we care for and stand with the poor and vulnerable. —USCCB Administrative Committee, Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility.

Economic Justice

• Supports legislation to limit predatory lending practices.
• Supports a progressive tax system, a just living wage, and fair and reasonable labor practices by employers.
• Opposes legislation that would allow for additional taxes and/or fees for services to be imposed on not-for-profit organizations.

Learn more about these initiatives in the Diocese of Providence.
 

Elderly Care

• Supports measures to provide effective programs for those who are poor and elderly, including health care, transportation, housing and nutrition.
• Supports the development of programs which would provide for a full continuum of care for moderate and low-income families, from care in the home, assisted living care and nursing home care, etc.
• Operates the St. Martin de Porres multi-service center in Providence which coordinates with over 40 agencies in bringing services to Rhode Island’s seniors.
• Sponsors the Neighborhood Friendly Visitor Program, which, developed in 1978, this community-based program provides volunteer visitors to Rhode Island’s lonely and isolated elders of all backgrounds and languages with the goal of ensuring that every senior remains a part of the community.

Environmental Issues

• Supports measures to preserve, protect, and improve the quality of the air, water, and land in Rhode Island.
• Supports strict enforcement of present environmental laws and adequate state funding for this purpose.  The Conference favors local control.
• Supports efforts to expand renewable sources of energy in Rhode Island.
• Supports the Holy Father Pope Francis’ June 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ which is bringing worldwide attention to the Catholic Church’s long-held concerns for the human person and for the natural environment – and the interconnected threats to them both.

Housing

• Supports efforts to create and preserve affordable housing units as well as rental assistance to low-income families. This includes shelter assistance and case management for homeless children and families, and rehabilitation of existing housing, both city and rural. 

Immigration

• Supports the basic human rights of documented and undocumented immigrants and refugees. This includes fair treatment under the law for all workers, a just living wage, safe working conditions, and for humane treatment of their children and families.
• Opposes efforts to make state and local police responsible for the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
• Called for an end to immigration raids and for ICE to allow agents to excuse themselves from participating in raids if such actions are not in conformity with their faith and conscience.