Most of us are not as conversant as we ought to be with the Popes' teachings about subsidiarity, the moral obligation to invest responsibility in the lowest, most local, and most voluntary level that can adequately handle the necessary tasks. For instance Pope Benedict's strong passage about subsidiarity in his encyclical, Caritas in Veritate:
Subsidiarity is first and foremost a form of assistance to the human person via the autonomy of intermediate bodies. Such assistance is offered when individuals or groups are unable to accomplish something on their own, and it is always designed to achieve their emancipation, because it fosters freedom and participation through assumption of responsibility. Subsidiarity respects personal dignity by recognizing in the person a subject who is always capable of giving something to others. By considering reciprocity as the heart of what it is to be a human being, subsidiarity is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state.
Let the people say "Amen."
Well, I'm glad the Pope is against an "all-encompassing" welfare state as he puts it (I'm sure many leftists would not advocate the "all-encompassing" bit either...they need some people to actually pay the bills.) However, the Pope's call for free health care is way too encroaching for my taste and seems aligned more with the Democratic position than that of the GOP.
The US Bishops also seemed to lean toward Obamacare before the abortion provisions were put in. Thank God Ryan is not in their camp regarding this.
This is what people missed with Caritas Veritate when they got all excited when something was taken out of context. Thank you for the quote.