"Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth,” this Sunday’s selection from the First Letter of John exhorts, or as this week's PrepareTheWord reflection says: “Love is not what you say but what you do and intend.” Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, architect of the Republican federal budget plan, has been busy writing columns and giving speeches arguing that the budget expresses values embodied in Catholic social teaching, but Catholic bishops and theologians counter that the proposed cuts to programs aiding the neediest violate core principles of Catholic social teaching.

The latest foray occurred last week when Ryan spoke at Georgetown University. He invoked Pope Benedict XVI in defending the budget plan, which contains cuts to federal food aid and Medicaid healthcare for the poor as well as to education grants in order to shrink deficits while preserving defense spending and low tax rates for the wealthy and corporations.

"The overarching threat to our whole society today is the exploding federal debt," Ryan said. "The Holy Father, Pope Benedict, has charged that governments, communities, and individuals running up high debt levels are 'living at the expense of future generations' and 'living in untruth.' "

The psalmist promises this Sunday that among those who respect the Lord “the lowly shall eat their fill.” Ninety Georgetown faculty members and priests signed a letter rebuking the Ryan budget plan for being antithetical to such values. "We would be remiss in our duty to you and our students if we did not challenge your continuing misuse of Catholic teaching to defend a budget plan that decimates food programs for struggling families, radically weakens protections for the elderly and sick, and gives more tax breaks to the wealthiest few," the faculty members wrote.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) also issued a statement rebutting Ryan's assertion that his budget expresses Catholic social teaching. Ryan fought back, stating that the bishops’ letter did not represent all American bishops. The USCCB retorted that its statement did, indeed, represent the views of the bishops.

“The pope dislikes the debt as much as anyone,” said Father Thomas J. Reese, S.J. of Georgetown after the speech. “But Pope Benedict would not want to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. In fact, Pope Benedict, along with the bishops, would have no problem with raising taxes as part of a comprehensive budget solution.”

Sources: Articles by Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service and David Lawder for Reuters