Unit VII: Christianity in a Consumer Society

OVERVIEW

I. Centesimus Annus 

Because Centesimus Annus is a retrospective on the 100 year trajectory in social ethics born of Rerum Novarum, it revisits many familiar themes and principles: the intrinsically social nature of the person, peace between social classes, just wages and the rights of workers, the limits of the right to private property, and the duties of citizenship. We will see development in the tradition in several areas, e.g., growing attention to the ecological consequences of development and a new awareness of the impact of information technologies on culture and economic life. For many readers, the most striking feature of Centesimus Annus is John Paul II’s explicit embrace of the market economy (Centesimus Annus, #41ff.). While remaining sharply critical of the profit motive that typically defines exchanges within capitalism and of a pervasive and growing consumerism, particularly in Western cultures, John Paul II nonetheless calls the free market “the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs.” Like the US Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on the Economy, Centesimus Annus argues that the disintegration of moral and cultural traditions is ultimately more significant in the maintenance of conditions of economic injustice than flaws in the economic system per se. In other words, it is not capitalism (or the market) that is the problem; it is the values of economic actors.

According to Pope John Paul II, the Catholic tradition calls for a “society of work, enterprise and participation” which “is not directed against the market, but demands that the market be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the state to assure that the basic needs of the whole society are satisfied.” (Centesimus Annus, 35). All of economic life should recognize the fact that we all are God’s children and members of one human family, called to exercise a clear priority for “the least among us.”

II. Economic Justice for All 

Economic Justice for All presents a moral and theological framework for economic life, drawn from biblical sources as well as the social encyclical tradition. It also makes specific recommendations for policy, too many to summarize. Here it is important just to see that the letter has both theoretical and strategic aims.

On November 13, 1996, the 10th anniversary of the letter, the National Conferenc of Catholic Bishops Bishops issued a 10-point summary of its key concerns in "A Catholic Framework For Economic Life" (An Affirmation of Economic Justice For All). They wrote:

"As followers of Jesus Christ and participants in a powerful economy, Catholics in the United States are called to work for greater economic justice in the face of persistent poverty, growing income-gaps, and increasing discussion of economic issues in the US and around the world. We urge Catholics to use the following ethical framework for economic life as principles for reflection, criteria for judgment and directions for action."

These principles are drawn directly from Catholic teaching on economic life.

1. The economy exists for the person, not the person for the economy.
2. All economic life should be shaped by moral principles. Economic choices and institutions must be judged by how they protect or undermine the life and dignity of the human person, support the family and serve the common good.
3. A fundamental moral measure of any economy is how the poor and vulnerable are faring.
4. All people have a right to life and to secure the basic necessities of life (e.g., food, clothing, shelter, education, health care, safe environment, economic security.)
5. All people have the right to economic initiative, to productive work, to just wages and benefits, to decent working conditions as well as to organize and join unions or other associations.
6. All people, to the extent they are able, have a corresponding duty to work, a responsibility to provide the needs of their families and an obligation to contribute to the broader society.
7. In economic life, free markets have both clear advantages and limits; government has essential responsibilities and limitations; voluntary groups have irreplaceable roles, but cannot substitute for the proper working of the market and the just policies of the state.
8. Society has a moral obligation, including governmental action where necessary, to assure opportunity, meet basic human needs, and pursue justice in economic life.
9. Workers, owners, managers, stockholders and consumers are moral agents in economic life. By our choices, initiative, creativity and investment, we enhance or diminish economic opportunity, community life and social justice.
10. The global economy has moral dimensions and human consequences. Decisions on investment, trade, aid and development should protect human life and promote human rights, especially for those most in need wherever they might live on this globe.

According to Pope John Paul II, the Catholic tradition calls for a "society of work, enterprise, and participation" whch "is not directed against the market, but demands that the market be appropriately controlled by forces of society and by the state to assure that the basic needs of the whole society are satisfied" (Centesimus Anus, 35).  All of economic life should recognize the fact that we all are God's children and members of one human family, called to exercise clear priority for "the least among us." 

Note:  The original Pastoral Letter and 10th Anniversary statement met with mixed reviews from US Catholics.  Some thought the framework was too conservative, merely putting window dressing on a capitalist system in need of radical reform.  Others read it as insufficiently protective of the working class, whose interests are often in practical conflict with the least well-off in society,