Bishop Barron on Paul Ryan and Catholic Social Teaching

[@goghumpman]

Father Barron I always like the way you explain things so thank you for this! I love that we're having a national conversation about Catholic Social Teaching because of Paul Ryan. We needed this conversation.

[@annairungu2678]

Hands down. Totally knowledgeable. I listen to Bishop Barron day and night.

[@timrichardson4018]

Gosh, I'm finding Catholic ideas resonating with me more and more. These ideas, in the cases I've investigated so far, are so well thought out, and are full of wisdom.

[@ThomasMusings]

Hello! Definitely. Religion is oft-perceived as limited, but I find it to be richly engaging - and there is a "Both/And" aspect to it, as we find goodness in Truth and Beauty.

[@markm.5756]

It's been a year since you posted this Tim - hope you're finding your way into the Catholic Church. We need and want you.

[@ThePoliticrat]

Then you should consider discernment! And if you take issue with things such as papal supremacy and the Church’s position on contraceptives, for examples, then you may want to consider becoming an Anglo-Catholic.

[@larrylim8050]

@@ThePoliticrat the Catholic church chose which manuscripts are God inspired. Non Catholics use those manuscripts the Catholic church chose. It means they accept the Catholic church has God given authority to declare which is true or false. So, no anglo- catholic thing.. just catholic. Other denomination logically should just make their own selections from those manuscripts n not borrow from Catholics.

[@rlburton]

Mother Theresa was asked that same question often by her critics who told her that the poor should be made to work for their food. She asked whether God made us work before He gave us a certain amount of sunlight; a certain amount of air. Or as C.S. Lewis put it "I'd rather be 'had for a sucker' by many false beggars than deny one person who was in genuine need."

[@ericbiscuit2248]

That’s dumb. There is no limit to sunlight or air. Food is scarce.

[@GM3mo10]

@@ericbiscuit2248 food is not scarce, it's just controlled and accumulated by the few

[@BishopBarron]

Friend, I can only invite you to watch the video again! How you are concluding on the basis of this video that I am "backing" Paul Ryan is a mystery to me.

[@pbecke]

It shouldn't be a mystery to you, Bishop. Without affording us anything in support of your contention, you insist that Ryan is sincerely trying to help the poor. On the contrary, all we have are his words, and they tell a quite different story, unless his intelligence is far, far too unworldly to even be in politics - an 'innocent', as he would have been called in past centuries. I don't think so. The import of his words are crystal clear, quite unequivocal. In terms of the Second Commandment and the Church's social doctrine, he's a thoroughly 'bad lot'. He thinks so highly of Ayn Rand, the late, psychopathic, campaigning atheist, whose gutter Mammon-worship blasphemed against the whole burden of Christ's teaching, that he gave a book of hers to each member of his staff.

[@QuisutDeusmpc]

@@pbecke He is a bishop in the Catholic Church. His interest is NOT in being an advertisement for any given candidate, but using Paul Ryan's candidacy and his claim to be a practicing Catholic, as a SPRINGBOARD to explore the Church's Catholic Social Teaching. He specifically states, during his discussion of 'solidarity' that the Church could not countenance Ayn Rand's egoistic, objectivism and the version of capitalism she espoused, while at the same time stating that free market enterprise which is disciplined by moral principles, a social welfare net which helps those who fall through the cracks without advocating for the government taking control of the economic markets and means of production. In other words, he is condemning both laissez-faire captialism AND socialism. Paul Ryan and his candidacy were foils for exploring the two pillars in the Church's Catholic Social Teaching: subsidiarity and solidarity.

[@gellymatos]

This is why politics in the U.S. can be a personal issue for Catholics. No single political party supports all catholic interests. Putting oneself 100% to any political party will at some point compromise catholic interests. However, we do have the advantage of discretion.

[@dougkollman7534]

Bishop Ryan, I think you might want to listen closer to what Ryan is saying. He IS opposed to Social Security, unemployment compensation, food stamp programs, at least in their current form. His solution is to reduce or eliminate. Yes, he wants to pass along the resources to the local level, and he is not concerned if these resources are adequate.

[@alfredindy8058]

Yes, I think that Ayn Rand/Paul Ryan's economic agenda to actually fall into Bishop Barron's chapter, in his book, on Relativism. Bishop Barron covered that extensively, and its effects on Christianity.

[@deathdrill72]

Bravo Fr. Barron; a lot of people are just hearing and not listening...

[@MalteseKat]

After six years, what does Bishop Barron think about Ryan?

[@alandesanges3163]

Paul Ryan is a great man just as Trump.

[@alfredindy8058]

@@alandesanges3163 You cannot compare Paul Ryan to President Trump because the two could not get along. Besides, Donald Trump ran and won, Romney/Ryan ran and lost. Donald Trump originally ran on giving people what they wanted. Paul Ryan ran on making people think the way he wanted them to think. That is a huge difference.

[@ThePoliticrat]

@@alandesanges3163 cringe. He may have some good economic ideas, but he’s proven himself to be a spineless coward, and was an infective speaker.

[@inkyerekess3326]

Paul Ryan is a Randian. Any Rand was a galloping racist and an atheist who believed the poor deserve no respect or love.

[@alfredindy8058]

@@ThePoliticrat If you call globalism and at the same time cutting Social Security good Catholic economic ideas.

[@DavidMatias79]

Wow. Shocked that Fr. Barron didn't even mention Paul Ryan's oft professed love and admiration for Ayn Rand. Really disappointed.

[@MichaelBrooksmsb400]

David Matias ...and wasn't Ayan Rand a Communist or a Socialist, the very description given by many crazy GOP's railing against the Social Safety Nets? Many at the top are Jealous that the Social Safety Nets have been very successful, especially the not federally funded Social Security, especially that....they are so jealous that they want to strip it!

[@Steveat9258]

+Michael Brooks You may have learned this in a year, but Rand was exactly the opposite of a socialist. She is more like what we would call today an "Anarcho-Capitalist", one who believes that there should be no collective political body, only the individual. She did not logically express her views well, so if you're interested I would suggest reading a book called "The Ego and Its Own" by Max Stirner. He articulated her variety of Egoism much better than she did.

[@zacharyblanchard3106]

Agreed, but I think the purpose of the video was more to explain Catholic Social Teaching, with Paul Ryan just being a springboard into the topic

[@alfredindy8058]

@@Steveat9258 And, if you are Catholic you would not be for cutting Social Security like Paul Ryan tried to do in every budget. I am so glad Romney lost the election against President Obama due to his selection of Ryan.

[@Beardman29]

Exactly. How does Ryan reconcile the two, the Catholic social teaching of solidarity vs. rampant individualism?

[@capone70]

Wonderful piece, father. Another note: Catholic social teaching is also based on "sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance." The laws we make to avoid these sins is in fact a cornerstone of Catholic social teaching, but have long been swept under the carpet. Paul Ryan has my vote if ever he would run for president.

[@BishopBarron]

Well, it doesn't exclusively imply government, but government can and should be one vehicle of solidarity.

[@jlupus8804]

"Here's a way to state it abstractly but I think helpfully is: subsidiarity without solidarity can give rise to... indifferent self-interest; but solidarity without subsidiarity can give rise to a sort of manipulation of the economy, a sort of state control of the political and economic situation, a sort of implicit totalitarianism. What solves the problem is, at least at the level of principle, is a balance between the two."

[@maydragon1]

Fr Barron, I have enjoyed practically everything you have put on video, audio or blog. Thanks be to God for your work of Evangelization! I do worry about mixing politics and religion and would love to hear your thoughts on that subject. God bless you and keep you well. Thank you for all your work, marilyn

[@BishopBarron]

Fr. Sirico by no means denies that government can function as a vehicle for social solidarity! It is a cornerstone of Catholic social teaching. For the details, look to Laborem Exercens and Centesimus Annus.

[@zacharypisarski9348]

Would you do a video on Mike Pence?

[@Mariusioannesp]

Oh yes, you should do one about Distributism! I loved this video because I've studied Catholic Social Teaching and Chesterton for an undergraduate thesis on Distributism and many of same things you mentioned in this video were in it!

[@ThePoliticrat]

Chesterton, Lewis, and Tolkien are the “holy” Trinity of modern theology. Specifically Catholic (or in Lewis’ case, Anglo-Catholic).

[@Pi10sco]

AlaskaFinal, what you propose reminds me of something Churchill said, "Americans can always be counted to do the right thing, after they've exhausted all the other possibilities".

[@s216674]

Father, There is one important thing I wish you would have spoken about which is that idea that solidarity with one another as and indeed, the mystical body of Christ, does not necessarily mean government. Solidarity can mean the way that we interact with one another, the manner in which we look out for our brothers and sisters by our donations to charity, our volunteering of time and talent, etc. In the last two generations, solidarity has been very often taken to mean government.

[@BishopBarron]

Not so! I'm questioning both First Things and Commonweal. I'm advocating both solidarity and subsidiarity.

[@Laursaurus]

Nicely done! I learn so much from these videos. You have a gift for using current events as an opportunity to learn the richer historical background, leading all the way back to Christ. I love the intellectual and philosophical traditions of Catholicism. Thank you for educating us.

[@Satarack]

I listened to a very interesting talk today which explictly pointed out that the quote of Adam Smith you made (as many others often quote him on) is out of context. They pointed out that in the context of Smith's moral philosophy, self-interest is distinct from selfishness or Greed. In fact they quoted Smith in reaction to a contemporary polemicist who advocated for that sort of, "Greed is good," position. *Continued*

[@skjelver4]

In the Cleveland Diocese, the bishop closed a large number of parishes several years ago. Many people thought it to be an over broad, and even cruel, decision, with no apparent rationale for some of the closings. Some of the parishes appealed to Rome, and a good number of the parishes were ordered to be re-opened by the Vatican. I think this points out, very potently and clearly, the danger of decision making at the local level, where indifference and cruelty can be hidden from inquiry.

[@dipsaucerose]

i do not think it's confusing! i LOVE the invocation of thinkers in your videos father!!! i learn more watching your videos than i did in a whole semester of sociology!!

[@jimmalloy7279]

Hi Father: I think you have Adam Smith's invisible hand a bit wrong. He believed a business person would give the best service to his customer so he would come back again. It was in his interest to give the best service to his client. It was in his client's interest too, and it would be in his client's best interest to come back again. We serve our own interests by giving the best service. Adam Smith was a professor of Moral Philosophy before he became known as an economist, you know. The invisible hand connotes the hand of providence, not of greed. I am writing a book on John Maynard Keynes and he even admits this is what Adam Smith meant, that it had a religious connotation. Keynes would be a leading secular atheist if he were around today, and as you know, he is the political left's excuse for an economist. It is interesting, Keynes economic theory had no spiritual dimension, and this is why he misunderstood classical economics. For Keynes, free market economics was about making as much money as possible for the money's sake. I do not think this is true in most cases. It is about building things and changing lives--your own and other peoples. Henry Ford dreamed of an affordable quality car in every American driveway before there were virtually any roads in America. He and his competitors built the cars and then the government built the roads! Did Steve Jobs keep working up until his death because he wanted to make more money? I was just reading Keynes' Essay "The End of Laissez Faire" and this was really clear when he wrote this almost a hundred years ago. He believed the driving force in free enterprise was greed. This is a typical amoral person's mistake: they do not see the moral aspect undergirding the other side's philosophies because they do not think morally. Most entrepreneurs want to build their business, not to produce just to consume (another thing Keynes believed--all production is for consumption). When you said "entrepreneurs creativity" you hit it. The driving force in economics is creativity employed, followed through on and facilitated through trade. Keynes' philosophy reflected his immorality (very common on the left--the Democrats did not want God in their platform in the last election, for example) Smith's philosophy reflected his morality (why Keynes could not comprehend it.) It takes some courage to talk about politics. I know you cannot take sides or say you do but thank you for your courage...and for reading my opinion if you got this far!

[@jimmalloy7279]

Yojur, The political left makes economics and political arguments with an underlying goal of controlling others into their person beliefs. For a Christian, they are twisted morally but they sound moral, hence all the confusion. The left is all for the woman but will support her hiring a doctor to murder her baby. They'll make an argument it is a clump of cells, but will push for the murder up to full term. They are blinded by what they want, licentiousness, and doing what feels good as what is right. Catholic social teaching is to do God's will in how he sovereignly made us. We say our lives are His not our own, and our faith, which is a gift from Him, deepens when we realize this. We must help the poor and you will find the term "redistribution of wealth" in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but ONLY by natural causes and means. Never forcibly. It is through freedom of opportunity, helping each other, finding the purpose in life God wills for us, through Him, with our cooperation in free will. A hard working diligent person gain's means doing what is right, but when a person who inherited money or won the lottery loses it through bad behavior, we then see a redistribution of wealth.

[@vietfunmk]

I like how u touch to different topic.. thank you father

[@trishknaut1031]

Prause God for you Bishop! I am wondering for myself if truly we know are one with the Lord if we will pursue prosperity in order for sharing the gospel of love with compassion being generous to those in need...for solidarity in Christ? "Be one as we are One" 🙏😇🍷🍞📖🎼💒🎁

[@billyboy630]

God Bless you Fr Baron, keep up the good work

[@BishopBarron]

Did you actually watch the video?!

[@BishopBarron]

Come on, friend! That's entirely unfair. In the course of this video, I clearly endorse the Catholic principle of solidarity, going so far as to mention John Chrysostom's insistence that if you have two shirts in your closet, one belongs to the poor. I also cite Leo XIII's claim that our use of private property must always be directed to the common good. I simply argued that Ryan was right to characterize Catholic social teaching as a blend of subsidiarity and solidarity.

[@bucklaw]

Chrysostom goes even further than that. "It is better to feed the poor than to raise the dead."

[@angelamariapreuss]

Father, how can the free market be disciplined by moral principles? What does that really mean? What does it look like?

[@JonnyMReck]

Watching this in 2021. Regarding the Invisible Hand: what if self-interest involves an outward service toward others out of concern for their wellbeing? If I disregard the well being of others around me out of selfishness, haven't I done myself a disservice?

[@Pi10sco]

I couldn't find any source telling me seniors are dropping their healthcare plans. If you mean that they were dropping Medicare, I don't see how that's possible since age alone makes them eligible. For a change you should offer me the source for your assertion. The people who have had the greatest cost are employers and employees. The former now must pay $300 to the state if they choose not to offer insurance to their employee. The latter have to take on insurance costs or join Medicaid.

[@TheRavenFoundation]

Father Barron, do you find this balance of subsidiary and solidarity in Paul Ryan? Or is he too influenced by Ayn Rand? Can a Catholic have both Rand and Jesus?

[@fantom5894]

Not sure if Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, and Luke 19:45-48 dovetails with the affection that the Pope's you mention have for the free market.

[@s216674]

Father, I would also add that we are currently borrow 40 cents of every $1 we spend in the USA. In addition, we are buying 61% of our debt. In short, we are on an unsustainable path when it comes to spending. A Greece or Spain style collapse will hurt the poor most of all and the Social Doctrine of the Church is not a suicide pact. Combine this with the numbers I presented on money spent on the poor, and I would suggest that we have a moral imperative to do what we can, not what we cannot.

[@angelinaaurelia1668]

Most of that debt accrued for "defense".

[@yankeesuperstar]

fantastic, intelligent commentary. Thanks Father.

[@demetriusmiddleton1246]

I learned a new word, redound!👌🏾 I had never read or heard that word before

[@michelledonnanwhodoesntkno5771]

Nice short lesson on solidarity and subsidiarity.

[@missheath000]

he's a true conservative with integrity and common sense. i have a lot of respect for him.

[@nancyjanzen5676]

One day Bishop Morlino said in an interview in some way both Paul Ryan a nd Joe Biden were right. At that time they seemed polar opposites and as I had three hour chemo sessions I spent them reading the entire Compendium of Catholic Social Teaching. I think that is the matk of a good shepherd a good teacher that makes us want to learn for ourselves what he means. Bishop Barron is a great teacher.Are we good students?

[@Unclenate1000]

What i noticed in this is that subsidiarity is the default, which means that it's ideally preferred over solidarity. basically favoring a libertarian, minimal intervention system over a centralized, authoritarian system like that which the democrats (and many republicans) favor. Solidarity is only gradually appealed to as it's needed. Sounds good enough to me.

[@thebacons5943]

People like Paul Ryan gave us people like Donald Trump. I think that says a lot about how many people of faith backed a party they agreed with on abortion at the expense of just about everything else that Christian life is about.

[@Pi10sco]

In the same Blue Cross report, Medicaid cost per person has decreased since 2006 because the system includes fewer sick people. There can be significant cost savings for the system in MA by lowering nursing home and hospital costs but since MA has many more old people (9th most of any state) you might project that the costs would be less in younger states.

[@matt86sd]

You're absolutely right. I'm an atheist and I can't stomach this woman, which is why it really amazes me that she's a hero to politicians like Paul Ryan. I think there's a lot of wisdom in Catholic Social Teaching, and this woman's philosophy seems to me completely at odds with it. How does a Catholic reconcile their faith with this philosophy? I'll be interested to see how Catholics vote in this election.

[@Alnonymous2000]

Show the comment, please. Show ANY link that does. MSNBC doesn't even have it on their site. Where did you see that?

[@chrismelvin7433]

Fr. can you speak of the teaching of Distributism in a way that us common folk could understand. It seems to be close to subsidiarity; which as you stated is part of Catholic social teaching.

[@yahwehhooie]

I'll ignore your insults because you are claiming confusion. You said the Bible is based on tradition (not the word of God as I expected you’d say) and assembled by the church, and that is a logical statement that I agreed with and commended you for; backslider is a religious term I’m pretty sure you are familiar with. Is there anything else that I can explain for you?

[@Pi10sco]

Lastly, about the justice of requiring each person to pay their way: you certainly have the right to do what you want with your body, but when you come to my office or hospital with an injury or illness, you are then demanding a service which legally (in the case of hospitals) or morally (in the case of physicians) I cannot refuse to provide. It then becomes more than your problem.

[@skjelver4]

I;m sorry, but the Cleveland Bishop who closed the parishes is named "richard Lennon", not "Antonin Lennon". Where did I come up with Antonin?

[@s216674]

Agreed 100% Father, but where is the cutoff? In 2010 alone we spent 1.9 trillion dollars on programs to help the poor in the USA. That is approx. $300,000/person below the poverty line. Do we think a family of 4 below the poverty line is getting $1,200,000 worth of services per year? Is more money really the answer? Over 1/2 of the US budget consists of programs to help the poor. That amount of money has to be meeting the need for solidarity when it comes to government.

[@Johanna040713]

So does this "not either or, but both" -principle translate into some type of mixed economic system that we see in nordic societies like Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark?

[@nancyjanzen5676]

Johanna quit trying to make any government system be the perfect Catholic answer. Read Rerum Novarum. Read the Compendium of Catholic Social Teaching. Dont take the shortcuts make it your own and judge every system and every politician by it then go vote. There will never be a perfect government on earth.

[@s9z9s]

Which leads us into another realm, the public sector union debate. It's not just about how much funding, but where the money ends up going. Is it ending up in the classroom and post office, or in the pockets of public servants who make far more than their equivalents in the private sector? Yes, they're servants, not "employees." That's why it's called a civil service. That needs special emphasis.

[@Zenitself]

There is always a development in Revelation. God brings people to maturity over time. Therefore, in the past there were many things which happened that were wrong and evil, yet recorded in the Scriptures. Only from the fullness of morality and spiritual wisdom and experience (The Entire Tradition) is how the Scriptures can be read and understood in terms of what they were and in terms of what they can reveal about us today.

[@KBurchfiel]

The preferential option for the poor is also very central to Catholic Social Teaching, and while this was a great video, it would have been nice if Bishop Barron had touched more on that as well.

[@billyboy630]

Before you all go ranting about me being a right winger, you should know that I too was a Democrat for many years and a deeply fallen away Catholic. It was many years of educating myself, growing up and the grace of God that I found my way back. There are bad politicians on both sides, which is one reason I am for smaller government, then we can have less of them.

[@bluevlilac09]

Thank you, Father Barron!

[@OneCatholicSpeaks]

There are Catholics who strive to follow the Bible. However, show me where we should follow it as blindly as you suggest. In Catholicism, we believe that Christ's sacrifice on the Cross removed the need to follow those proscribed punishments, but it does not remove the moral teaching that an act was wrong.

[@BadboyAnarchy]

You've validated my message by responding to it. Thus undermining the point you're trying to make.

[@millergre]

On subsidiarity and solidarity I personally believe that the difference is a wonderful paradox and I agree with Father Barron, as Catholics we must subscribe to the “both and” principle. in that while they may seem to be opposed to one another, after careful reflection, it should be clear that you can have neither true subsidiarity without solidarity no can you have true solidarity without subsidiarity. I believe in freedom of conscience and I believe that I am my brothers keeper.

[@AlaskaFinal]

Higher echelons you could say have a right to oversight, that doesn't mean they should run these things. However, I'm reluctant to take your word that there wasn't a "reason", do you by chance have a source?

[@joboww]

my eyes have been wide plucked for a while now, you see Im Catholic not Democrat or Republican. But thanks for rolling me in with your arch enemies, my dear brother I will pray for you, and I hope you will pray for me. a good quote: The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. - GK Chesterton

[@Goldni8372]

Simple Angela. Self interest. If you have what I need or want. And I have what you need or want. Then we enter into business transaction. No matter what color, class, lifestyle, religion, politics, or creed we hold. In this sense, self interest has fed more people then all of the global charities put together.

[@joboww]

may the peace of or blessed Lord be with you always dear friend. And please when responding to arguments cite specifics. I heartily await your response and wish you only the best! +JMJ+

[@AlaskaFinal]

That's an inefficiency we can manage. If you think THIS is the main issue rising costs, your sadly mistaken, this is just NOISE for most Hospitals. Our costs comes directly from how we've regulated the industry. It's time to embrace deregulation. It helped my industry (Airlines) to lower costs while improving safety and coverage, and it can do the same for yours.

[@AirSandFire]

Father, thank you for saying government should be a vehicle for solidarity. Sadly, too often the Church embraces right-wing, pro-capitalist views that many times are in dire contrast to Christ's teaching. In the Vatican they supported the criminal Berlusconi, and in my country Slovenia the Catholic Church was involved in rampant capitalist financial speculation that contributed to our disastrous economy, while at the same time preaching about "solidarity". The Church should not seek profit.

[@aileenstylespaynemalikhora962]

What's wrong with capitalism?

[@Pi10sco]

I think that's Cory's point, Alaska. The individual mandate reinforces the notion that every responsible person should pay their share because you can't not live or get old. You can call it a tax as the SC ruled, or whatever but we all share the cost. I still think it's a good idea, it will also make people think twice about demanding care they don't need if they have to pay out of pocket.

[@laurawilliams7947]

I know this is an old video, and I make it a general policy not to engage in the comment section, but I have to wonder for everyone saying Ayn Rand is a communist, if they have ever read any of her books? Forget all the movies that have been made “based” on her Books. I read The Anthem when I was in high school. It was not assigned reading. I randomly found it in the school library, considering the timing it might have been providence. This was when one of my teachers was talking about how great communism was; it was just because the people in government were corrupt. Thanks to Ayn Rand I learned more about the philosophical and psychological issues involving communism and socialism. None of my teachers were entertaining the idea of delving into political paradigms, if they did it was horribly washed over. Of course there are things about her philosophy I don’t agree with, but it is very worth it to understand why she thought the way she did and what factors influenced her ideology. You can look her up on wiki and see what she actually stood for, but that is far from the whole picture. I suggest starting with the Anthem just because it is one of her shorter books. I know this has nothing to do with the video, but I always find it sad when Ayn Rand is misrepresented, particularly in media and movies. Secondhand sources are never a good base for education. Always look for a primary source, which is easier said than done. Please note that I haven't actually given my opinions on Ayn Rand or communism.

[@TroglodyteDiner]

I was expecting his Excellency to call-out Paul Ryan's grave error but the closest he got was a warning against Ayn Rand Objectivism.

[@JamesExcell-InterJex]

He has said that he rejects that part of the book.

[@Pi10sco]

I am OK with cutting benefits, for example, or making them more efficient. Medicare and Medicaid can be streamlined. But how can you take the savings likely to ensue from such cuts and give them as disproportionate tax breaks to the wealthy? Why not use the savings to narrow the deficit. In any balance sheet the important number is the bottom line, where expenses meet the revenues.

[@CoryTheRaven]

"1. That's violation of liberty, you are requiring people to pay for something they CHOSE not to buy." Like car insurance? The weird thing I find about the row over Obamacare is that it doesn't actually solve the problem. The issue never was that people aren't buying healthcare. it's that they can't afford it. Forcing them to buy what they can't afford maybe lines the pockets of the insurance industry, but doesn't help people.

[@CoryTheRaven]

Okay, so if I understand you correctly, your first point should be adjusted accordingly: 1. That's violation of liberty, you are requiring people to pay for something they CHOSE not to buy, provided that buying it is not an inherited part of the social contract, which ensuring that all of our citizens are healthy and employable is not so to Hell with them. Is that about right?

[@OneCatholicSpeaks]

Concerning the psalm. Interesting how you omitted the context in which that was written. It was a psalm of mourning. The opening of the same psalm says that they were captives and those captors were mocking the Israelites by asking them for happy songs when insuring that the Israelites had nothing to be happy for. Concerning that verse itself. It can be a lesson that when people turn away from God they can start saying stuff like that. Concerning Deut 22: 24. Continue reading the passage.

[@DaveHof]

Thank you, Father, for a calm, intelligent, rational presentation on a topic that has been hijacked in the media by hysterical ramblings from both sides of the debate. If we could just stop shouting at each other and start talking instead, maybe we could actually reach some common ground.

[@yahwehhooie]

Some people are still on the fence; lets cast our pearls out to them.

[@Pi10sco]

Look at Blue Cross data on health spending in Massachussetts. The health spending per person has always been higher, since before the mandate passed in 2006. That is because of the greater number of academic and research hospitals, as well as specialist physicians there compared to other states. It's true that the overall spending on healthcare has not decreased but the rate of growth in spending has decreased to 4.5% since 2007 (compared to prior to 2007, 9%, and to the US since 2007, 5.1%.

[@AlaskaFinal]

I can't seem to find what you speak of, could you please just share what these "lies" are?

[@BishopBarron]

How did you gather from my comments that I'm "soft" on Ryan?! Did you hear my invocations of Leo XIII and John Chrysostom?

[@trevorwilson6683]

You completely ignore that his invocation of subsidiarity is to justify his Ayn Rand policies. This is a guy that used social programs to live and educate himself in his younger days and now preaches cutting the poor and need my off from government programs. I increasingly find you to be just another Republican pretending to be on “both sides”. Disappointing

[@Pi10sco]

Sorry about the wrong words. "Hospitals which" and "hospitals write off" were what I meant to say.

[@NicolasAntonioJimenez]

After all, when government takes your resources for "solidarity" (a perversion of that word, if you ask me), those resources become wholly unavailable to you to use in ways that achieve things that bring even more solidarity that government can.

[@pbecke]

Highly speculative, to put it as kindly as possible.

[@clintonthe4th245]

Have you read Utopia? Thoughts?

[@gemeinschaftsgeful]

Subsidiary goes opposite of those who grew up in the New Deal era. Subsidiary denies the fact that local government is the most likely to be corrupt with nepotism and favors given to friends without little oversight.

[@s9z9s]

You're a little confused. The reason we don't have waiting lines is on account of the free market providing better services more speedily. These really bad waiting lines, whether in the post office or DMV, are on account of the fact that the government, which has no profit motive, is providing the service. Look up Steven Crowder's video on Canadian health care "Obamacare Yay or Nay".

[@Pi10sco]

I looked at Gallup poll data from 2010 which showed that since 1990 18-29 year olds have become more likely to believe that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances (14% in 1990-4, vs 23% in 2000-4), and that fewer thought it should be legal under all circumstances (36% vs 28%,same time periods). The same Gallup poll data show that with age these views do not change much. We already are changing the culture.

[@Pi10sco]

Brother, look at the facts about the uninsured, according to Gallup data from 2012 Massachussetts has the fewest uninsured with 4.1% and Texas the most with 25.5%, Alaska 22.8% and Georgia 22.2%. If you look at Kaiser Family Foundation website you have similar numbers. Please look up the facts yourself, I'm providing you with more than rhetoric since my purpose is not to insult you but to inform you.

[@Pi10sco]

The voice of reason.

[@CoryTheRaven]

What?!? I'm Canadian and I haven't had to wait in a nightmarish line, nor do I know anyone who has. The perceived "problem" is that everyone has to wait in the same line... You don't get to jump to the front if you have money. And are you suggesting that the monied in the US don't have to wait, or more to the point, the poor do not?

[@AlaskaFinal]

I would disagree with that point Father, as does Rev. Sirocco: /watch?v=xccOCfjGH_g The problem with Government, is that it can seek to give, even when it ceases to help. For instance; we have mandated benefits for single mothers, but at what point do you move from alleviating a bad situation, to simply encouraging it? At what point are we not simply helping, but instead giving license for irresponsible behavior and bad habits? Governments are terrible at identifying that line.

[@fantom5894]

I, as a practicing Roman Catholic,respect Father Barron,but what he doesn't seem to realize in disparaging solidarity without subsidiarity, is that we are moving inevitably and inexorably towards a publicly-owned economy,and there's nothing which can stop this. The whole "too big to fail" thing, crony capitalism, and the inability of the "free market" to create good jobs, is a sign that capitalism is dying of its own internal contractions. There is a dialectic at work.Is subsidiarity a dream?

[@ThisRestlessPilgrim]

Perhaps I should have started with this question: do you personally believe what the Catholic Church teaches about life? Do you believe that abortion is the murdering of an unborn innocent human life, a being which has been made in the image and likeness of God?

[@etnocnad]

Does subsidiarity apply only to government or to corporations as well. An important consideration as more and more decisions are being made for us by transnational corporations. I don't think Paul Ryan or any of the other ultra-capitalists think "Small is beautiful"

[@Montfortracing]

Yes He told us those things, but most of those can be done privately by people like you and I. A lot of times it may be less prudent to have the government taking over all such services, but it can.

[@AlaskaFinal]

Pardon, but wouldn't Subsidiary first mean that the Church's would be closed by the Priests who run them, not the Bishops? Bishops would typically be the 2nd or 3rd level, depending on the hierarchy. In fact, I'm reading Diocese spokesman Robert Tayek say now that the prerogative to stay open is at the Churches. If they can bring in enough money to keep going, they can do so, but even if they don't, the Bishop himself will not close them, that decision is now left up to the people there.

[@joboww]

I work one mind at a time, as Christ worked one on one with people, for you are my friend, and I mean that with all sincerity whether you except it or not. And if we are going by polls then we can see that those who favor the death of a child is in decline. I am no prophet nor a perfect man, I like many, must make my way to the confessional on a weekly basis for my wrongs and my failings, but I dont leave myself there but start anew trying to help, when possible.

[@Montfortracing]

One of those moral principles could be: government overseeing bankruptcy cases and resolutions, because sometimes companies cannot pay their debts. Fr. Barron didn't get into practical examples, but others may have some other examples.

[@jjausti]

It is our job on the local level to feed, clothe, and take care of the health needs of the poor. It's called subsidiarity. Fr Barron did a great job explaining what subsidiarity and solidarity are in the video above. Do you really think it's the VP's job to help the man begging on the side of the street on your way to work? Or perhaps yours? Can you imagine Christ banging on the doors of roman officials saying "you're in charge help these sick people!"

[@yahwehhooie]

The countless factions of Christianity that are at odds with each other is indisputable proof that ‘God’ wants his followers to be lost and confused, or that the author expired without a successor. I can only hope that Father Barron has a clearer and more uplifting answer. Where is it written in the Bible that reinterpreting the ‘word of God’ is something anyone should do?

[@fredpine696]

Excellent! Well said! Keep them coming!

[@maryamevermore]

If only our citizenry could understand and embrace this duality and begin to demand it from our political system that is currently so bereft of decency and the true interest in the common good.