Ryan not specific on Catholic teachings

The Ryan budget plan is a central theme in this election. Mr. Ryan has stated publicly that his plan is informed by his Catholic faith, but he has not provided specific details of how that plan advances the principles of Catholic social teaching. Furthermore, there are many in the church who see this budget plan and many of the polices that Mr. Ryan and the Republican party support as being antithetical to Catholic social teaching.

The media are largely giving Ryan a pass on this and presenting him as a Catholic candidate, but this takes a very narrow view of what the Catholic church actually teaches about social justice. That is why I have created a petition on change.org (search “Catholic”) requesting Rep. Ryan to clarify, in detail, which aspects of his plan advance several major themes of Catholic social teaching and in what ways they do so.

I urge readers to support this petition but, more importantly, I urge reporters and editors to start looking at the whole picture of Catholic social teaching and challenge Mr. Ryan to support policies that reflect all of his faith’s teaching and not just a selected subset.

Niall McShane

Arlington Heights