Don't Forget Human Aspect of Wall Street Bailout, Church Leaders Say

Church leaders urged members of Congress and the Bush administration to keep the human and ethical dimensions of the economic crisis in mind as they craft a financial bailout package for Wall Street.

"This crisis involves far more than just economic or technical matters, but has enormous human impact and clear ethical dimensions which should be at the center of debate and decisions on how to move forward," said Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., in a Sept. 26 letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and key House and Senate leaders.

Bishop Murphy, who chairs the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, also stressed responsibility, accountability, awareness of the advantages and limitations of the market, subsidiarity, solidarity and the common good in the search for just and effective responses to the economic crisis.

The House of Representatives rejected a $700 billion compromise bailout package Sept. 29.

The economic crisis and proposed bailout also drew comment from the president of Catholic Charities USA, a Catholic representative at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and a former Vatican official.

Bishop Murphy's letter was harsh in its assessment of the circumstances that led to the economic crisis.

"The scandalous search for excessive economic rewards even to the point of dangerous speculation that exacerbates the pain and losses of the more vulnerable are egregious examples of an economic ethic that places economic gain above all other values," he said.

"Sadly, greed, speculation, exploitation of vulnerable people and dishonest practices helped to bring about this serious situation," Bishop Murphy added. "Those who directly contributed to this crisis or profited from it should not be rewarded or escape accountability for the harm they have done."

He also called for "protection of the vulnerable -- workers, business owners, homeowners, renters and stockholders" in any economic bailout and said renewed "instruments of monitoring and correction within economic institutions and the financial industry," as well as greater public regulation and protection, will be necessary.