David Cloutier, associate professor, moral theology, was interviewed by Catholic News Service’s digital team on Catholics’ responsibility to help the hungry. He was also quoted in a print story.
... David Cloutier, professor of theology at The Catholic University of America, told CNS that often aid can become a source of dependence for the struggling countries, whose corrupt governments can put their own country’s progress on the back seat.
“That seems not to excuse people from the responsibility of helping those who are immediately in need,” Cloutier said. “In fact, people in these countries are suffering because they have been thrown off of land that they may have worked for a long time. … It is possible to produce food, but they are experiencing acute conditions where they can’t produce food, and there is a need for immediate help. It is true that long-term aid is not the solution. There has to be an end to conflict.” ...