PAGE 12 — The Georgia Bulletin, February 12, 1987
Testimony To Senate Subcommittee
USCC Aide Soys Federal Housing Policy A Factor In Homelessness
WASHINGTON (NC) -
Americans “can no longer
fool ourselves” about the
failure to provide a basic
human right in adequate
housing, said Father J.
Bryan Hehir, U.S. Catholic
Conference secretary for
social development and
world peace.
In-testimony submitted to
the Senate Banking, Hous
ing and Urban Affairs Com
mittee’s Subcommittee on
Housing and Urban Affairs.
Father Hehir criticized
federal housing policies and
said the private sector
alone cannot solve the
problem. A copy of his test
imony was provided by the
USCC Feb. 2.
"We can no longer fool
ourselves about the nature
of the homelessness crisis
in this country," he stated.
‘‘Now it is becoming
clearer that homelessness
is not primarily caused by
personal failures but by in
stitutional failures,” he
said.
No longer can the
homeless population be
labeled as merely mental
cases, drug or alcohol
abusers, or young, single
parent families too ig
norant or inexperienced to
help themselves, he said.
Now, the homeless increas
ingly include “families with
children and one or both
parents who are employ
ed,” the priest said.
“Recent press reports
describe a 1,000 percent in
crease in homelessness
since 1979 — from 200,000 to
over 2 million,” he stated.
He said two factors in
volved in the problem are
“the inadequacy of federal
housing policy and the
dramatic growth in pover
ty”
In fiscal 1981, the last
year of the Carter ad
ministration’s budgets,
President Carter asked for
$33.5 billion for housing pro
grams, and Congress gave
him $30.8 billion. Father
Hehir said.
For fiscal 1987, the cur
rent fiscal year. President
Reagan sought $2.3 billion
and Congress provided $7.8
billion, he added. “That is a
75 percent reduction in
housing aid.”
In addition, he said, the
real value of the minimum
wage has dropped by 25 per
cent. working parents with
incomes below the poverty
level are no longer eligible
for supplemental welfare or
subsidized child care, two-
thirds of the unemployed
Vatican Forms Commission
To Assess Hunthausen Case
BY JERRY FILTEAU
WASHINGTON (NC) -
The Holy See has formed a
commission of two U.S. car
dinals and an archbishop
“to assess the current situa
tion in the Archdiocese of
Seattle.”
Last year Archbishop
Raymond Hunthausen of
Seattle was instructed by
the Vatican to give up his
authority in several key
areas. The action provoked
wide controversy, and the
U.S. bishops last November
offered to mediate the
dispute.
The members of the new
commission are Cardinals
Joseph L. Bernardin of
Chicago and John J. O’Con
nor of New York and
Archbishop John R. Quinn
of San Francisco.
Archbishop Pio Laghi,
papal pronuncio to the
United States, announced
formation of the commis
sion with a brief written
statement Feb. 9.
He said Archbishop
Hunthausen “has express
ed his concurrence;; with
the decision. He gave no
other details.
On Feb. 10, the commis
sion members issued a joint
statement from Dallas,
where they were attending
a medical morals workshop
of bishops and theologians.
“We initiated our task in
Dallas and will make our
report to the Holy See when
it has been completed,”
they said. There will be “no
further public statement,"
they added.
The prelates’ statement
said the three were notified
of their appointment in a
Jan. 26 letter from Arch
bishop Laghi. They also said
that the assessment "was
envisioned by the Holy See
and agreed to by Arch
bishop Hunthausen when
the auxiliary. Bishop
Wuerl, was appointed more
than a year ago."
In late 1985 the Holy See
announced completion of a
three-year investigation of
Archbishop Hunthausen’s
leadership in Seattle, and
shortly afterward it ap
pointed Bishop Donald
Wuerl as his auxiliary.
In September 1986 Arch
bishop Hunthausen an
nounced that, following in
structions from the Holy
See, he was delegating full,
final authority to Bishop
Wuerl in areas of liturgy,
seminarians, clergy forma-
tion, the archdiocesan
tribunal, and several other
areas of church discipline
and teaching.
Amid the nationwide con
troversy that ensued over
the unprecedented division
of episcopal authority,
Archbishop Laghi issued a
“chronology” of the Seattle
events in which he said the
Holy See considered Arch
bishop Hunthausen “lack
ing the firmness necessary
to govern the arch
diocese."
In November the Na
tional Conference of
Catholic Bishops debated
the Hunthausen case for
more than four hours
behind closed doors.
The result of that meeting
was a public statement by
Bishop James Malone of
Youngstown, Ohio, outgo
ing NCCB president, saying
the U.S. bishops had no
authority to intervene in the
case but stood ready to
mediate if invited by both
parties to do so.
Cardinal Bernardin and
Archbishop Quinn are past
presidents of the NCCB.
And Cardinals Bernardin
and O'Connor have been
noted for their national
leadership and mutual sup
port of the U.S. bishops'
1983 pastoral letter on war
and peace and for their pro
life activities.
Archbishop Quinn has
played a key role in recent
years in trying to ease ten
sions between the Holy See
and members of U.S.
religious orders and im
prove relations between
bishops and Religious
across the country.
Georgia Bulletin
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don’t get unemployment in
surance, and two-parent
families are often denied
welfare.
“Is it any wonder that
shelters are full of families
with children?” he asked.
He said that “the
marketplace itself does not
and will not provide ade
quate and affordable hous
ing for the poor. It is essen
tial, therefore, that govern
ment policy initiatives be
undertaken to ensure de
cent shelter for all
Americans.”
Catholic agencies and
other church and non-profit
groups have been scramb
ling in recent years to
shelter and house the
homeless, he said.
“In the end, however, the
private voluntary sector
does not have adequate
resources to deal with these
problems alone” and needs
federal government
assistance, he said.
He proposed a three
pronged attack on
homelessness, starting
with action “to get money
out quickly to states,
municipalities and non
profit agencies to provide
short-term housing and ser
vices for the homeless.”
"Secondly, the federal
government needs to move
now on a major new in
itiative to increase the sup
ply of low-cost housing,” he
suggested.
Housing vouchers backed
by Reagan “would do little
to increase the supply but
would simply help a few of
the poor to compete” for
housing, he said.
"Finally,” he added, “in
the long term we need a
coordinated effort to in
crease the incomes of poor
families” by reforming
welfare, creating job pro
grams, increasing the
minimum wage, and in
itiating training programs.
Father Edwin M. Con
way, administrator of
Catholic Charities for the
Archdiocese of Chicago and
treasurer of Catholic
Charities USA, told a House
of Representatives sub
committee Feb. 4 that
church services and
facilities for the homeless
are insufficient to cope with
the problem.
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