“Debt,” said the 17th-century English scholar, author and preacher Thomas Fuller, “is the worst poverty.”
The 90 percent of Americans who — as of the second quarter of 2025 — owe an all-time high total of $18.39 trillion in household debt might readily agree.
It’s been called a national crisis — and one without an obvious or immediate solution. So how can the Catholic Church respond to a stress-inducing situation that impacts almost all of its members?
Sam Fatzinger — a wife, mom of 14, and with her husband, Rob, co-author of “A Catholic Guide to Spending Less and Living More” (Ave Maria Press) — recalled a summer trip to the pool when a parent sarcastically commented on the thrifty big box store snacks…