Mahony Says Poor Need a ‘Safety Net’

In his strongest statement yet on last year’s overhaul of federal welfare and immigration laws, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony joined priests from dozens of parishes Thursday to urge state and county lawmakers to assist legal immigrants and others facing benefit cutoffs.

“Today, thousands of people across California stand to lose the basic food and financial assistance which provides sustenance and shelter to children, to families and to the elderly,” the cardinal said during a news conference attended by 50 priests.

With the federal government “reneging on its responsibilities,” the Los Angeles prelate--who heads the nation’s most populous Catholic archdiocese--called on state lawmakers to provide a “safety net of benefits for the poorest of the poor.” He spoke as California elected officials are preparing to consider legislation restructuring the welfare system.

Mahony urged state and county governments to work together to ensure that the General Relief program--facing possible cuts from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors--”remains available at a level adequate to sustain the most vulnerable.”

The gathering signaled the cardinal’s intention to press for legislative action, particularly in Sacramento, where several pending bills are designed to mitigate the impact of the federal changes in welfare law. His comments also indicated a degree of frustration, particularly because a rise in state revenues has made additional aid funds available.

“The great mystery to me is, where is the leadership?” Mahony told reporters after the news conference, adding that he hoped legislators in Sacramento would act promptly on assorted assistance packages.

The cardinal voiced support for proposals that would provide state-funded food vouchers and other benefits to elderly, disabled and other legal immigrants facing the loss this year of food stamps and Supplemental Security Income. He also endorsed efforts to put up to $20 million in state funds into efforts assisting immigrants seeking to become U.S. citizens.

Mahony’s remarks underscored his determination to use the power of the pulpit to build support for the idea that state and local officials have a moral obligation to assist needy people thrown off the federal welfare rolls, church officials said. Many of the archdiocese’s 4.5 million Catholics are expected to hear the cardinal’s message reiterated during homilies this Sunday, which coincides with the Feast of Corpus Christi.

“This celebration brings to heart and mind how the present changes in welfare and immigration laws threaten the well-being of so many who make up the body of Christ,” Mahony said.

The cardinal, whose archdiocese is home to the nation’s largest concentration of new immigrants, has long been an outspoken defender of immigrant rights.

But until now, he has not been strongly linked to criticism of last year’s federal welfare overhaul, which religious groups from many denominations have assailed as unduly harsh.

Despite his strong comments, Mahony pointed out that U.S. bishops have supported some of the central tenets of welfare reform, including the importance of marriage, family, personal responsibility, self-discipline and “basic morality.” The cardinal agreed that “people find meaning and dignity through work,” but he stressed the need for “dignified” employment.

“Workfare should not be an opportunity for employers to cut labor costs by displacing current employees with workfare participants paid at lower wages,” Mahony said.

It is unclear how the cardinal’s comments will play in Sacramento, where proposals to provide state aid to legal immigrants facing federal benefit cutoffs have become embroiled in partisan haggling.

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Assembly Majority Leader Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), author of one of the aid packages Mahony endorsed, applauded the prelate’s action.

“We welcome the moral authority of the cardinal in this debate,” Villaraigosa said.

John Nelson, a spokesman for Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove), the Assembly minority leader, had not seen the cardinal’s statement and declined to comment. Pringle also supports some state replacement of federal aid lost to legal immigrants, Nelson said.

Republican Gov. Pete Wilson has yet to take a position on any of the legislative proposals to substitute state money for expiring federal welfare benefits, said Lisa Kalustian, a Wilson spokeswoman. She declined to comment on the cardinal’s statement.