The following letters to the editor appear in the edition of July 1, 2004. Letters appearing in this space do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arlington Catholic Herald or the Catholic Diocese of Arlington. The editor reserves the right to edit letters as necessary. There is no guarantee of publication. Send letters to: letters@catholicherald.com.

Principle of Subsidiarity

I agree with Fr. Rausch (ACH 6/24/04) that the number of Americans without health care coverage — 43.6 million people were uninsured at some point during 2002 — is a symptom of larger healthcare problem facing our nation. However, I disagree with Fr. Rausch's welfare-state, one-size-fits-all solution of U.S. universal healthcare for all, as in Great Britain or Canada.

Unfortunately, as Fr. Rausch rightly points out in his column, the current employer-based health care system does not fit the needs of all Americans. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao reported in a June 2001 speech that by 2001 the average 32-year-old had worked for nine different companies. Some employers cannot afford to provide coverage for their workers and some workers may not be able to afford their share of costs. Still other workers may have several part-time jobs and therefore not qualify for coverage. Fr. Rausch and I agree that people should not have to depend on their job or job status for their health care coverage.

However that is apparently where our agreement ends. For there is very little agreement between Fr. Rausch and myself on possible solutions to the problem. Instead of taking my lead from the "social assistance state" framework advocated consistently in these pages by Fr. Rausch, my alternative to the existing health care system takes it cue from the principle of subsidiarity as enunciated by the Holy Father in his encyclical "Centesimus annus:" "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good." This means that instead of the government making the health care decisions, an alternative program should empower individuals and families to make their own health care decisions, combined with adequate information and counseling (a job right up Fr. Rausch's alley).

Let's briefly analyze the current problem and pose a solution in line with the principle of subsidiarity. Unlike those whose employer-provided coverage is tax-exempt, individuals (a community of lower order) under the currently existing system who want to purchase a policy on their own must use after-tax dollars to do so. Many of the uninsured are low-income and find it difficult to make ends meet. A subsidy, such as the refundable tax credit, would ensure that even those who pay no taxes would receive the credit specifically to purchase a health care policy. Those individuals receiving a tax subsidy should be able to apply their credits to all available private coverage options, including policies, from the individual market. A targeted tax credit for the uninsured in need begins to lay the foundation for a far superior alternative system that would result in a seamless health care system for all.

Gene Arbogast
Springfield

Tear Down this Wall

Thank you for publishing the text of the bishops' statement "Catholics in Political Life" (ACH 6/24/04). I was moved by our bishops' statement at their assembly in Denver affirming "unequivocal commitment to the legal protection of human life from the moment of conception until natural death." This is something new.

For 30 years after the infamous Roe v. Wade, we heard little from our Church leaders about their opposition to the legal status of abortion in this country. More recently, our bishops spoke of the teaching of the Catholic Church that abortion is intrinsically evil. But have we heard our bishops demand that this unjust law be struck down? Have we ever heard our bishops say TEAR DOWN THIS WALL when addressing the evil of abortion?

Now our bishops are beginning to speak out against the legal status of abortion in our country. Catholic politicians are now on notice that they cannot be committed to legal abortion and still be a good Catholic.

For our bishops, thanks for speaking out. Let us pray that it will not take another 30 years for our bishops to speak unequivocally about the attacks on marriage being waged by the homosexual activists and their allies in the courts. And let us pray that lay Catholics everywhere will back up our bishops when they say TEAR DOWN THIS WALL when they speak about the infamous decisions attacking our Catholic culture.

Dennis A. Brown
Springfield

What about Reverence?

Pope John Paul II states in his encyclical "Ecclesia de Eucharista," (paragraph 37): "The judgment of one's state of grace obviously belongs only to the person involved, since it is a question of examining one's conscience. However, in cases of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern for the good order of the community and out of respect for the sacrament, cannot fail to feel directly involved."

The Code of Canon Law refers to this situation of a manifest lack of proper moral disposition when it states that those who "obstinately persist in manifest grave sin" are not to be admitted to Eucharistic communion.

The U.S. Catholic Bishops stated "they would counsel Catholic politicians who consistently work against restrictions on abortion on demand "risks making them cooperators in evil in a public manner."

There are numerous Catholic members of the Senate who have been in office for years and who consistently promote the pro-choice evil. Perhaps if the bishops followed the Code of Canon Law and refused these politicians the Eucharist, the laity would realize how grave the sin is and not elect them. This is not "misusing Catholic teaching and sacramental practice for political ends," but defining Catholic morals. What about reverence for the Eucharist?

Jean Rickard
Warrenton

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