In 2010, nearly one in six persons in the U.S. was living in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In a report release in September 2011 it was noted that 46 million people (15%) now live in poverty in the United States. Sixteen million of our children (almost one out of four) are growing up poor. And the recent unemployment numbers continue to hover above 9 percent nationally and over 13 percent here in Nevada.

These numbers represent real people; they are parents who cannot feed their children, families that have lost their homes and jobless workers who have lost not only income, but also a sense of their place in society.  For us, each of these persons is a child of God with innate human dignity and rights that deserve respect. These numbers bring home to us the human costs and moral consequences of a broken economy that cannot fully utilize the talents, energy and work of all our people.

This is not time to make excuses or place blame.  It is a time for everyone to accept their own personal and institutional responsibility to help create jobs and to overcome poverty, each in accord with their own abilities and opportunities. Individuals and families, faith-based and community groups, businesses and labor, government at every level, all must work together and find effective ways to promote the common good in national and economic life.

Every day, we serve ‘the least of these’ in our midst. In our Catholic parishes, schools, charities, hospitals and other ministries, the poor, the underemployed and the unemployed are not issues, but people with names and faces.  It is an essential part of our work as Catholics to build a more just society and economy.

In these tough economic times, we turn to the God who loves us.  We pray for those who need work.  We lift up the poor and suffering.  We ask God’s guidance for our nation.  This is not a time to give into discouragement.  It is a time for faith, hope and love.  Faith offers us moral principles to guide us in the days ahead.  Christian hope gives us strength.  Christ’s love calls us to care for those left behind in this broken economy.

(Letter to bishops on economic situation, September 15, 2011, USCCB)