Catholic social teaching and foreign aid

Deacon Walter Ayres

Most Americans may not associate Catholic social teaching with our nation’s foreign policy or military strategy, but recent happenings in Washington have demonstrated how important it is. But first it helps to know something about both foreign aid and social teaching.

FOREIGN AID

Although surveys show most Americans believe foreign aid accounts for 25 percent of our national budget, the actual figure is closer to one percent and often lower. In 2023, it was about .24 percent of our gross national income. That is less than half of what we spent in 1960. By comparison, Sweden spends .91 percent, Canada .38 percent, Germany .79 percent, and the United Kingdom .58 percent.

CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lists seven themes of Catholic social teaching, which it calls “a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society.” Those themes include the life and dignity of the human person (every person is precious), option for the poor and vulnerable (a basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring), and solidarity. (We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic and ideological differences).

In the United States, foreign aid has been provided to other nations since at least the mid-1800s, when assistance went to Greece, the Cape Verde Islands and Ireland. It continued in the aftermath of both World Wars.

After World War II, Secretary of State George Marshall famously devised a relief program to help rebuild Europe. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Gen. Douglas MacArthur diverted 800,000 tons of U.S. military supplies to feed Japan, our former enemy. Both recognized that foreign aid was not just an essential tool of foreign policy but, as one author described it, “a textbook example of enlightened self-interest,” designed to prevent “misery ... want ... poverty and strife” from nurturing the seeds of totalitarianism.

FOREIGN AID AND MILITARY STRATEGY

In 2017, 16 former four-star generals and admirals submitted testimony to Congress noting that “not all foreign crises are solved on the battlefield; in the 21st century, weapons and war fighters alone are insufficient to keep America secure.”

They wanted a robust development budget to advance our national security objectives, stating that their experience “has shown clearly that development aid is critical to America’s national security.”

Military leaders believe that strategic development assistance is not charity. Rather, it is an essential, modern tool of U.S. national security. “Foreign assistance should be respected — and budgeted — as an investment in the enhancement of stability in the world’s most vulnerable places, not as a no-strings-attached giveaway to poorer nations,” one said.

That is because countries that enforce the rule of law and invest in the health and education of their own people serve American interests by giving their people hope for a more prosperous and safe future.

WHAT TO DO

Organizations such as Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Jesuit Relief Service (JRS) are urging Catholics to contact their elected representatives to let them know that they are deeply concerned about the administration’s recent decision to cut U.S. foreign assistance programs.

Echoing our military leaders, CRS notes that U.S. foreign aid is not a handout. It advances U.S national interests and provides “lifesaving assistance in emergencies and supports long-term development programs that help families and communities build resilience, reducing the need for humanitarian aid in the future.” You can participate in this advocacy program by visiting the CRS website at www.crs.org.

Deacon Walter Ayres is Director of Catholic Charities’ Commission on Peace and Justice.