Faith partners delivered letter to Congress signed by more than 240 faith groups
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 4, 2025
WASHINGTON, DC— NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice joined faith partners on Capitol Hill on November 4 to deliver a Spirit-filled interfaith letter signed by more than 240 leaders of faith groups nationwide, urging lawmakers and the White House to find a bipartisan solution to end the government shutdown and resolve the food and healthcare insecurity affecting millions of people in the United States.
“This shutdown threatens human dignity and our democratic system,” the letter states. “The most vulnerable people in our communities across the country are undoubtedly bearing the brunt of this shutdown. This pain will only accelerate as funding reserves dry up for important programs.
Families across America are starting to feel real pain as they go without income and lose healthcare and food assistance all at once. Some 42 million people who use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for food assistance, some 24 million Americans who are currently enrolling in the Affordable Care Act and seeing their premiums skyrocket, and hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been put on leave or forced to work without pay, are hurting unnecessarily while they wait for the White House and lawmakers to negotiate an end to the shutdown and protect healthcare and SNAP.
The letter continues: “The framers of the U.S. Constitution laid forth the basic purpose of our government during the hot Philadelphia summer of 1787: government’s responsibility–your mission as elected officials–is to promote justice and the general welfare, seeking always to become a more perfect union. This calling is as important today as it was then. These issues must be resolved immediately. Every day this shutdown continues to harm our people.”
Organizations among the signers include: NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice; Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty; Catholic Climate Covenant; Faith in Action Network; Franciscan Action Network; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Islamic Circle of North America, Council for Social Justice; Latin America Working Group (LAWG); National African American Clergy Network; National Council of Churches; National Council of Jewish Women, Pax Christi USA; Presbyterian Church (USA); Catholic Committee of Appalachia; and the United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society, and hundreds more.
The full text of the interfaith letter can be found online.
Founded by Catholic Sisters in 1971, NETWORK is an inclusive, national, Catholic advocacy organization open to all who share our values, working for justice and equity for everyone. For 53 years, NETWORK has educated, organized, and lobbied for federal policies that serve the common good and honor the dignity of all people.
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