The federal government should help Puerto Rico tackle its $72 billion in debt crisis, Archbishop Roberto González Nieves, who leads the Catholic Church on the island, told congressional and White House staffers this week in meetings in Washington.

The fiscal emergency is inflicting hardship on poor and middle-class households and has caused school closings, cuts in social services and health care, as well as layoffs and drops in employee benefits, the bishop enumerated, according to the Catholic News Service.

"We want to create more awareness of the urgency of the situation in Puerto Rico and the dangers that more austerity measures would create," González Nieves said.

"In terms affecting human lives, especially the poor, we already have approximately 50 percent of our people living under the poverty level. And obviously the impact of the current situation is creating unemployment and a new exodus of people."

A delegation led by González Nieves met on Sept. 30 with California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, both Democrats. They also held discussions with Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch and White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.

"They listened. They asked many questions," the archbishop said about his meetings on Capitol Hill.

"They promised to do more research and to become better informed. I sensed a desire to help."

González Nieves has been outspoken in his detailed demands for federal intervention in the debt crisis. The archbishop had urged immediate action as early as August, Agence France-Presse noted.

"The debt crisis threatens to throw more people into poverty and unemployment, González Nieves said.

A statement by Puerto Rico's Ecumenical and Interreligious Coalition, similarly, insisted that U.S. central bankers had a duty to intervene.

"The Federal Reserve has the power to act and must act," the organization said in a statement. "The Federal Reserve has the ability to restructure our debt, mitigate austerity policies and ensure relief of the debt without prejudicial and onerous conditions."