St. Vincent de Paul Society, bishops back campaign to reduce poverty

Published: 2007-01-24

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- The new Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America launched by Catholic Charities USA is getting support from the public policy agency of the Missouri bishops and from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul's national council. "Any way Catholic Charities and others can bring their direct experience of working with the poor to the Capitol building both here and in Washington, D.C., that's all the better," said Mike Hoey of the Missouri Catholic Conference, based in Jefferson City. Too often discussions of economic policy focus solely on numbers, Hoey said. The right question is how the policy will affect people and how they can be protected, he added. "We hope it gets to the point that lawmakers themselves will ask economists and others, 'How will this affect the individual?'" Hoey noted. When Catholic Charities and others who provide services to the needy help lawmakers be sensitive to the poor before they make a decision, "that can have a tremendous impact," Hoey told the St. Louis Review, newspaper of the St. Louis Archdiocese.

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