Pope Calls Health Care An ‘Inalienable Right,’ Urges World Governments To Provide Universal Coverage
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/11/19/131348/pope-universal-healthcare/?mobile=nc
You’re absolutely right. But I’m not sure he’s talking about cradle-to-grave coverage or unlimited access to various technologies. Ironically, the US had been providing emergency healthcare long before any call for “universal” access to less (and more!) expensive care arose.
However, I’m not sure that healthcare-as-inalienable-right falls within the purview of popes’ calls. It has absolutely nothing to do with faith and morals. The “dignity” of life, as usually described by the the church hierarchy, involves (again) personal, private charity. I hate to twist this further, but my guess is that Benedict (a life-long Conservative) was talking about government’s ability to facilitate those various charities’ efforts—not taxing in order to provide it on its own. Nevertheless, you totally win on this argument. And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see some later document clarifying Benedict’s published position.