As the House of Representatives was preparing to vote on the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement, religious voices were casting doubts about who would really benefit if the treaty were implemented.

At a July 21 prayer breakfast organized by the Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment, clergy from both the United States and Central American nations that would be included in the treaty voiced strong reservations about the treaty and its intended effects.

U.S.-born Auxiliary Bishop David A. Zywiec of Bluefields, Nicaragua, told of growing up in East Chicago, Ind., next door to a widowed woman, Mrs. McShane, whose backyard had a mulberry tree. She likely "had a blind eye" to his youthful climbing up the tree to snatch mulberries and then jumping onto the flat-roofed carport where his father parked the family car.

Mrs. McShane was like the Apostles as described in the Book of Acts, Bishop Zywiec said: "They had possessions, but possessions didn't get in the way of their solidarity." When Central America's bishops discussed CAFTA last November, he said they asked themselves, "How does this help human development? How does this help human dignity? How does this help people get time off for vacation? How does this help people help the children and their schools?"

"These are some of the human values" that should be present in a treaty, but are currently lacking in CAFTA, Bishop Zywiec said.

He pointed to a joint statement on CAFTA by the chairmen of the U.S. bishops' domestic and international policy committees and the Bishops' Secretariat of Central America, which called for "a proper moral perspective" on trade that promotes "human development --- while respecting the environment --- by fostering closer economic cooperation among and within countries and by raising standards of living, especially for the poorest and most abandoned."

CAFTA is modeled after the decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which lifted most trade restrictions among the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Father Guido Villalta Loaiza of the Diocese of San Jose, Costa Rica, said he was part of a consulting team that was to provide a report on CAFTA to Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco by Sept. 9.

Speaking through an interpreter, Father Villalta, a priest for 38 years, said, "Costa Rica is probably the country that managed to get the best deal within the framework of CAFTA. But even so, there are many dimensions of injustice" in the pact. "It is going to hurt the poorest people of the country the most," he added.

Of the Catholic voices at the breakfast speaking out against CAFTA, the strongest words came from one of the representatives who will be called upon to cast a vote: Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C.

Jones, 62, became a Catholic 30 years ago. He has already taken some heat this year in calling for a schedule to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq. With his opposition to CAFTA, he again stands in defiance of party leadership.

"There is unbelievable pressure from the (Republican) leadership and the White House" to vote for CAFTA, he acknowledged. But "I didn't come up here to be a (congressional committee) chairman," Jones said. "I came up here to be a servant of the Lord, and for the people of my district."

"I'm offended by the Central American Free Trade Agreement," said Jones, who learned during a recent congressional recess that a jeans-maker in his district was closing the plant next year and moving to Honduras, throwing 445 people out of work. "They'll be very, very lucky, very fortunate, if they find a job that is equal in pay and benefits. The statistics say it does not happen," Jones said, adding that 200,000 U.S. manufacturing job losses could be attributed to NAFTA.

Msgr. Ramon Angeles Fernandez, secretary-general of the Catholic bishops' conference of the Dominican Republic, told Catholic News Service in a July 21 interview in Washington that his nation's government is in favor of the treaty, but that its legislature opposes it.

Echoing Bishop Zywiec, Father Angeles said through an interpreter, "It's a question of solidarity. The most powerful government pressures the others as the most powerful countries have the advantage on the open market. The U.S. can produce a product and sell it cheaper than they can produce it in the Dominican Republic. It will destroy the economy. It will depress the labor."

He added, "We believe that the government has good will, but it doesn't know clearly all the consequences --- and we should know the consequences before the government decides."

The same day as the prayer breakfast, President George W. Bush stumped for CAFTA at the Organization of American States' Washington headquarters.

"By opening up Central America and the Dominican Republic to U.S. trade and investment, CAFTA will help those countries develop a better life for their citizens," he said, adding that "by helping those economies improve, CAFTA will help the nations strengthen their democracies."

Bush characterized CAFTA as "a commitment of freedom-loving nations to advance peace and prosperity throughout the Western Hemisphere." He said CAFTA "will help the nations of Central America deliver prosperity and opportunity for their citizens," adding, "By strengthening democracy in the region CAFTA will also lead to greater security and stability."

"It's going to be a tight vote," acknowledged Bishop Zywiec. Under the latest vote-counting guesses, CAFTA would be rejected.

Perhaps that's why Jones concluded his remarks by asking those in attendance to "pray for them --- and just Republicans --- with this CAFTA legislation."

---CNS