The Rev. Bernard Healey, of the Diocese of Providence, says the state must preserve cash assistance to the state’s poorest residents.

The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

PROVIDENCE –– Rhode Island’s Roman Catholic establishment, joining state government’s budget debate as a powerful new player, vowed Tuesday to fight plans to cut 3,000 low-income families off the state’s cash-assistance program at the end of the month.

The cut — a result of new timelines included in Governor Carcieri’s welfare overhaul of 2008 that was approved by the legislature — will save taxpayers an estimated $16 million in the coming fiscal year, bringing Rhode Island’s welfare rolls to their lowest levels in history as the state trudges through its worst economic conditions since the years immediately after World War II.

“Now is not the time to cut the slender thread of assistance that may be all that stands between the family and homelessness,” the Rev. Bernard Healey, of the Diocese of Providence, said during a State House news conference held by the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition. “A budget is a moral document that reflects the priorities of our state leaders. The future of our children must be the first priority.”

The diocese will contact 150 parishes across the state this week, urging pastors to discuss their concerns with the estimated 250,000 Catholics expected to attend Mass this weekend, according to Father Healey.

“We gather here today to reawaken the spiritual energy of this State House,” he said. “Justice demands that the budget support the needy.”

Top lawmakers are working behind closed doors to craft a tax-and-spend plan to close a budget hole estimated at $590 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Broad cuts are expected across an array of social service programs, aid to cities and towns, and the pension system for state workers and teachers.

But religious leaders Tuesday directed their outrage at the welfare changes, which became law almost a year ago but won’t be phased in until July.

More than 5,000 children are among the 7,800 people who will lose access to cash assistance, child care and training opportunities under the welfare program dubbed Rhode Island Works, a move that Carcieri said would push people into the work force in part by limiting payments to two consecutive years.

The governor has no plans to relax the new time limits, according to spokeswoman Amy Kempe.

“They’ve been notified several times over the past several months that this deadline was upon them,” she said, noting that a special notice was issued this week with a “simplified hardship extension” form, allowing families to appeal to the state in cases of serious illness, homelessness, or difficulty finding work.

But that’s not good enough for the handful of religious leaders who gathered in the Capitol yesterday.

Quoting from a letter from Pope Benedict XVI, Healey said that “too often, governments suffer from ethical blindness … The Church cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice.”

Religious leaders promised to bring the fight into churches and temples this weekend, to encourage their communities to join the political debate. Specifically, the Interfaith Coalition wants lawmakers to delay the new welfare time limits for one year, giving the economy time to improve.

“All of this information … will be widely distributed in religious institutions throughout Rhode Island this weekend and in the weeks to come,” said Rabbi Alan Flam, of Brown University’s Swearer Center for Public Service. “Congregants will be asked to contact their elected officials to gain their support for these policy changes.”

If the cut is not reversed, the number of families on welfare will fall to around 5,300, a drop from roughly 18,750 households in 1997, according to the state Department of Human Services. At the end of March, the average three-person family received a $478.87 monthly payment.

“It’s the money that is used to keep them off the streets, out of the shelters, eating with the lights still on,” said the Rev. Jeffrey Williams, of the Cathedral of Life Christian Assembly. “I have to believe that the powers that be know it’s the right thing to do… It’s the moral thing ... But it will be a courageous thing.”

The leaders of the House and Senate Finance Committees refused yesterday to endorse the Interfaith Coalition’s proposal.

Unless state law is changed, the cut will take effect in 28 days.

speoples@projo.com