As Ryan says
The work I do as a Catholic holding office conforms to the social doctrine as best I can make of it. What I have to say about the social doctrine of the Church is from the viewpoint of a Catholic in politics applying my understanding to the problems of the day.Serious problems like those we face today require charitable conversation. Civil public dialogue goes to the heart of solidarity, the virtue that does not divide society into classes and groups but builds up the common good of all.The overarching threat to our whole society today is the exploding federal debt. The Holy Father, Pope Benedict, has charged that governments, communities, and individuals running up high debt levels are living at the expense of future generations and living in untruth.We in this country still have a window of time before a debt-fueled economic crisis becomes inevitable. We can still take control before our own needy suffer the fate of Greece. How we do this is a question for prudential judgment, about which people of good will can differ...Simply put, I do not believe that the preferential option for the poor means a preferential option for big government.Look at the results of the government-centered approach to the war on poverty. One in six Americans are in poverty today the highest rate in a generation. In this war on poverty, poverty is winning. We need a better approach.To me, this approach should be based on the twin virtues of solidarity and subsidiarityvirtues that, when taken together, revitalize civil society instead of displacing it.Government is one word for things we do together. But it is not the only word. We are a nation that prides itself on looking out for one another and government has an important role to play in that. But relying on distant government bureaucracies to lead this effort just hasnt worked.You can read the entire speech here. Here is a video
Thanks for the repeat and the additional quote from Ryan’s speech.