Bishop Lori reasserts principle of subsidiarity in health care debate

Folks, in a recent interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) this past week, Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut qualified the position of the US Catholic Bishops against President Obama's health care overhaul in the following manner:

"The bishops have long supported some form of access - that's the key word, access - to health care," said Lori.  "That doesn't mean we favor the government taking over one sixth of our economy - but it does mean that intelligent ways should be found to help those who need the help to get health insurance and adequate medical care."

Lori said that any health care reform ought to avoid a centralization of power and respect what is known as the principle of subsidiarity, which states that matters should be handled by the lowest level of competent government possible - a principle upheld in several papal encyclicals.

"It's long been one of our positions that we've advocated for the issue is really how do you do it in a way that respects life, and in a way that respects the principle of subsidiarity," the bishop concluded.

The emphasis is mine.

Commentary.  This is refreshing and welcomed news. If Bishop Lori’s comments is representative of the US bishops, we’re now seeing a “distancing” of the bishops from health care reform as proposed by President Obama. Reframing the debate in terms of the principle of subsidiarity restores the proper boundaries of the health care debate and rebalances the somewhat uncritical support that I perceive the bishops have been giving to the bill so far. I hope that the USCCB as a group soon clarifies the issue so that Catholic lay people can construct a fair, equitable, cost-effective and life and conscience-respecting legislation.