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Nonetheless, Bush is not without his Catholic critics. Some contend that his faith-based rhetoric is just small-government conservatism dressed up in religious vestments, and that his economic policies, including tax cuts for the rich, have created a wealth gap that clearly upends the Catholic principle of solidarity with the poor.

TO my favorite Catholic apologist:

Please expound on the mentioned principle. Is there a difference in expectation from individuals as opposed to organizations - businesses, governments, etc?

You know, one of the worst problems with the abuse of Catholic social teaching in the USA is the inability of (or the lack of desire among) many of its proponents to integrate two key principles simultaneously: the principle of the preferential option for the poor and the principle of subsidiarity.

Last first: subsidiarity means that political decision-making should be devolved to the lowest possible level - i.e. that local communities should have a say in most of the policies that directly impact their lives. Clearly some questions - like the decision to go to war, immigration policy, etc. - naturally resolve themselves at the national level. But issues like education, taxation, etc. are best dealt with locally.

The preferential option for the poor means that in making policy decisions and when faced with several legitimate and moral possibilities, these decision should be made in such a way as to choose the policies that most help the least fortunate and most vulnerable.

The left side of the political spectrum among Catholics is inclined to scrap subsidiarity altogether in advocating redistributionary income polices at the federal level.

There is also a third element of Catholic social teaching which is forgotten by most commentators: voluntarism.

That is, the best way to help the poor is not by having the government cut them checks transferred from your tax receipts, but by giving your own money, your own time and your own skills and talents for the assistance of the poor in your community.

Authentic Catholic social teaching embraces the principles of subsidiarity and the preferential option for the poor exercised by the voluntary charitable acts of private citizens.