This is the term Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, used to describe the final version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Congress enacted this week. The cuts he referred to are those “to healthcare and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God’s creation.”
The archbishop pulled no punches in observing that “the bill, as passed, will cause the greatest harm to those who are especially vulnerable in our society. As its provisions go into effect, people will lose access to health care and struggle to buy groceries, family members will be separated, and vulnerable communities will be less prepared to cope with environmental impacts of pollution and extreme weather. More must be done to prevent these devastating effects.”
The archbishop’s message reminded me of the prophetic words of St. Pope John Paul II during his 1995 visit to the United States. In Newark, he spoke of America’s “enterprising spirit, which has always sought the most practical and responsible ways of continuing to share with others the blessings God has richly bestowed here.” He urged Americans to use their “spirit of creative generosity (to) help meet the needs of your own poor and disadvantaged. They too have a role to play in building a society truly worthy of the human person — a society in which none are so poor that they have nothing to give and none are so rich that they have nothing to receive. The poor have needs which are not only material and economic, but also involve liberating their potential to work out their own destiny and to provide for the well-being of their families and communities.” And then he added in words that should prick the conscience of us all in this moment, “America will continue to be a land of promise as long as it remains a land of freedom and justice for all.”
During that same visit, he touched on our defining legacy of welcoming newcomers. “Quite close to the shores of New Jersey,” he recalled, “there rises a universally-known landmark which stands as an enduring witness to the American tradition of welcoming the stranger, and which tells us something important about the kind of nation America has aspired to be. It is the Statue of Liberty, with its celebrated poem: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ... Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me’.” Again, he followed up with words that should give us pause in this moment. “Is present-day America becoming less sensitive, less caring towards the poor, the weak, the stranger, the needy? It must not! Today, as before, the United States is called to be a hospitable society, a welcoming culture. If America were to turn in on itself, would this not be the beginning of the end of what constitutes the very essence of the ‘American experience’?”
Archbishop Broglio was right to use the word “unconscionable,” for indeed it is a call for all of us as Americans to examine our conscience about what makes America great.