Journalist challenges Church's acceptance of government austerity agenda

Paul Donovan

Journalist Paul Donovan gave a hard hitting lecture at the Hexham and Newcastle Diocesan Justice and Peace Annual General Meeting where he questioned the Catholic Church hierarchy’s 'meek' acceptance of the government’s austerity agenda.

Speaking at the St Charles Gosforth parish centre on Saturday, Mr Donovan questioned why in a country that boasts 88 billionaires, more than 350,000 people have to go to food banks.

He accused the Coalition government of using the deficit caused by the banking crisis five years ago to adopt an option for the rich. “So the Coalition Government uses the crisis as an excuse to privatise the public services, cut welfare and worker’s rights,” he said, noting that welfare for the rich continued unabated via the likes of tax credits subsidising low paying businesses, greedy landlords who keep increasing rents and the bankers who go on taking subsidies from the tax payer whilst continuing to take their bonuses.

He went onto suggest that there were other places where the funds to service the deficit could have been found, such as taxing the richest 1,000 people who have seen their wealth increase by £150 billion in the past three years and those multinational companies which operate in the UK but pay hardly any tax.

Donovan also suggested that curtailing costly military adventures like Afghanistan (£37 billion) and the renewal of Trident nuclear weapons were other areas of potential saving.

He questioned that while Archbishop Vincent Nichols has established his blueprint for business initiative, there is very little heard regarding trade unions. Yet Catholic Social Teaching is very clear on the inequality of power in the employment relationship that makes the existence of trade unions so vital to balance up the potential injustice of the workplace. "Catholics have been urged in CST since the 19th century to join trade unions," he said.

Mr Donovan lamented the lack of public comment from the Church on matters like privatisation and taxation. “We need a proper critique of justice in the workplace, issues like privatisation, taxation and poverty. Working for the common good is not the same as working for the maximum profit of a company or enterprise,” said Mr Donovan, who complimented the work of Catholic organisations on the ground from Caritas Social Action Network to the National Justice and Peace Network in undertaking a charitable response to the crisis as well as pointing out the injustice of much of what is going on. He reiterated though, quoting Pope John XXIII, that charity can never become a substitute for justice.

Mr Donovan lamented the seeming desire of the institutional church to cut back resourcing to the justice and peace network across the country. He quoted the loss of J&P workers jobs in a number of dioceses, yet called on NJPN to look to its own structures and methods of organisation in moving forward to address the challenges ahead.

“At grass roots level, more needs to done to bring people into J&P. There needs to be linkage with the unions and progressive parties, like Labour and the Greens.... The movement needs to resist the desire to disappear into its own comfortable silo of like minded Catholics. It needs to broaden and build alliances inside and outside the Church,” said Mr Donovan.

“This new agenda would see the Church rediscover its prophetic voice on poverty in this country. The Church would have a bigger say if there were a thought-out serious critique of the economic approach that is causing hurt and suffering to so many people. A church speaking for the common good on issues effecting everybody’s daily lives – a Church dare I say it relevant to the papacy of Pope Francis.”

*A text of the full talk can be seen at www.paulfdonovan.blogspot.com