Helpful Then and Now The Catholic Social Teachings for Decisions
20 for 2020 is a newsletter sent to 20 people in preparation for the U.S. Presidential election of 2020. The recipients include Business, Government and Society members including three Presidential candidates. The newsletter goes beyond the headlines and provides factual information on key issues including healthcare, the economy, society and how we can come together as a nation and as a people. Oct 2019
This is the fifth newsletter and it will provide constructs for charitable and just thinking about social issues. It is an overview and summary of Catholic Social Teaching. This newsletter is a summation of teachings presented in a course on Catholic Social Teaching by Father Robert Altier in the Fall of 2018.
“If we can cooperate with all people in building authentic community based on truth, justice and charity, economic growth would no longer be limited to satisfying human needs, but it would also promote human dignity.” Pope John XIII
With the stock market near record highs and the unemployment rate near record lows, the media and the White House would have us believe that the economy is doing well, yet I think all of us in one way or another sense that there is more to it than just these two figures. We know that gig jobs like Uber have little regard for the worker, leverage buyouts can leave companies having debt payments at the expense of growing wages for employees, and that the size and scope and behavior of the 5 largest Tech Companies: Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft is out of line, and that the tactics, profits and callous disregard for human life exhibited by some pharmaceutical companies is somehow very wrong.
The reason we think these things are wrong is Natural Law. God’s law written in the heart of every man. Societal norms and behaviors can create a lot of confusion and we can get caught up in bad behavior and forget the dignity of man and can become selfish, yet we still at some level know something is amiss.
Catholic Social teaching, which has its roots in the Ten Commandments can help us get back on track individually and as a society. Our nation was founded as a Christian nation with liberty and justice for all and with brotherhood and love of neighbor at its core. Catholic Social Teaching is concerned with the good of the human person and the family and providing social conditions to help souls get to heaven and providing direction for a just society. Catholic Social Teaching reflects 3 levels of moral theology:
1. The foundational level of motivations (intentions) why we do what we do
2. The directive level of norms for live in society- how to live in society and know right from wrong
3. The deliberate level of the conscience- the mind applying the ten commandments to a particular circumstance and making a determination
In 1891, the social, political and economic changes of the industrial age yielded deplorable labor conditions and raised new questions about the relationship between labor and capital. Pope Leo XIII wrote Rerum Novarum (of New Things) as the Catholic response to the social crisis in the modern world and to teach man how to live together in harmony. The teachings reject socialism and communism as vehicles for social change and conveys that if you want proper social change it needs to be done looking at the human person, human work, private property and the principle of collaboration. People working together for the common good.
After the stock market crash, the teachings were expanded and reaffirmed the principles applied to labor and capital but added that the state in its relations with the private sector should apply the principle of subsidiarity. Subsidiarity would become a permanent fixture of Catholic Social Teaching.
The whole of the Church’s social doctrine can be seen as an updating or deeper analysis and an expansion of the principles that are presented in Rerum Novarum.
The 4 Principles of Catholic Social Teaching are:
1) The dignity of life- human beings are equal in dignity and created in the image of God.
2) The common good-activities are to be done for the good of all and not just one party.
3) Subsidiarity–activities are to take place at the lowest level possible without undue interference from higher levels. The elimination of unnecessary layers and bureaucracy.
4) Solidarity-the notion that we all share and participate in what we are doing, not just now but from generation to generation and no one is exploited. It is both a social value and a moral principle. Solidarity requires the appropriate modification of laws, market regulations, and juridical systems.
These principles must all be present and one is not be done at the expense of another.
The 4 Social Values of Catholic Social Teaching are:
1) Truth
2) Freedom
3) Justice
4) Charity
Justice to give to God and neighbor what is their due constitutes the way things need to operate.
The Areas of Application of Catholic Social Teaching include:
1) The Family
2) Work
3) The Political Community
4) The Environment
5) The Promotion of Peace
Through lack of acknowledgment of dignity of man and selfishness, a common definition of the purpose of a corporation since 1997 held by some in power and promulgated to society at large was” to maximize shareholder wealth”.
In August of 2019, The Business Roundtable announced a new Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation signed by 181 CEOs who commit to lead their companies” for the benefit of all stakeholders- customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders”.
“The American dream is alive but fraying” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Chairman of Business Roundtable.
This stakeholder approach to business is what I was taught in my college courses in the 1980s and is necessary for business to be a noble profession. A greater realization of Catholic Social teaching can provide a framework for goodness now and for generations to come and conditions that favor a more just society.
Let us recalibrate ourselves and work and pray for a better society for all people.