Economics as if God Matters
Economics is a subject which is generally associated with Adam Smith, F. Hayek, Milton Friedman and their followers on the one hand and J. M. Keynes, J. K. Galbraith and their followers on the other. Karl Marx and his followers too had plenty to say on the subject, although the economic quagmire in which those countries that followed or are still following the Marxist creed operate is nothing less than an indictment of Marxist principles. Economics is not a subject which is commonly associated with the Catholic Church, the Popes and their followers. However, as Fr. Crane has explained in his series on Social Ethics, given the nature of the Church's mission, i.e. the salvation of men, that the service of the Catholic Church must take into account man's material needs as well as the requirements of his intellectual, moral, spiritual and religious life. This concern must be for all men of whatever race and from whatever part of the world. The Church's concern for the salvation of man in his totality goes back a long way. Various Popes have elaborated amply on what has become known as Catholic social teaching at various points in history to address the social question. The issue of the ethics of economic life was put in a nutshell and very succinctly by Gaudium et Spes thus: "The purpose of economics is the service of men, their material needs and those of their moral, spiritual and religious life. Economic activity is to be carried out according to its own methods and laws but within the limits of morality".
Economics as if God Matters is a welcome addition to the existing body of literature on Catholic social teaching, which it must be said is not voluminous by any means. The author, Dr. R. J. Ederer enumerates and critically examines those encyclicals dealing with the social question over the last 100 years. The book consists of seven chapters each of which is devoted to a particular encyclical apart from Dr. Ederer's stimulating introduction and conclusion.
Reading through the various chapters, one becomes aware (of the origin and evolution of the social teaching of the Catholic Church as the social question itself becomes more and more complex with the passage of time. New issues in the socio-economic arena brought new papal pronouncements in dealing with them, but the core teaching remains the same and is in fact embellished and made more meaningful and adaptable by subsequent papal teachings.
Leo XIII
Rerum Novarum, encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII on the condition of the working classes, published in 1891, is the subject matter of chapter one. Rerum Novarum described in powerful language what was wrong in the industrialised world of that time, and set out the basic principles which have inspired the Church's social teaching since. Pope Leo emphatically rejected the socialist remedy and upheld the right to private property. He saw the true remedy to the social ills of the time in the concerted action of (a) the Church, (b) the State and (c) employers and employees. The Pope saw the Church's role in terms of providing the moral dimension to the social problems and in terms of preaching on the issues of justice and hope. Justice on the part of workers (honesty, fairness) and on the part of employers (respect for workers, their religious duties, their sex and a just wage). Hope in terms of the message of eternal salvation through Christ.
The role of the state in this tripartite relationship is that of protector of rights, especially those of the workers. More specifically the state should safeguard the right to private property, prevent strikes through appropriate measures and protect the working class in its spiritual and mental interests. The working class must be protected from exploitation through the provision of fair working conditions, rest and recreation as well as making sure that workers earn a family living wage that would enable them to acquire private property for their own future security.
The Pope emphasised the natural right of association and saw the role of employers in terms of collaborating with workers to set up associations that would provide security for workers and their widows and orphans in case of emergency. These associations would also be welfare organisations for the benefit of children and older people. Workmen's associations would also help workers to secure just wages and working conditions as befit the dignity of labour. These are the foundations on which the principle of subsidiarity rests and which are vehemently defended by the Pope's successors.
As the first encyclical to address the social question, there is no doubt that Rerum Novarum laid down the foundation for Catholic social teaching and as Dr. R. J. Ederer rightly points out, Rerum Novarum is the "pioneer encyclical of the papal encyclicals which treat economics as if God mattered".
Pius XI
After Leo XIII, it was Pope Pius XI who, forty years later, took up the issue of the social question. Quadragesimo Anno was, in fact, issued to commemorate Rerum Novarum, which Pius XI qualified as "the Magna Carta on which all Christian activities in social matters are ultimately based". Quadragesimo Anno was issued also because "the new needs of our age and the changed condition of affairs have rendered necessary a more precise application and some amplification of Leo's doctrine" said Pius XI. Reviewing the achievements of Rerum Novarum, Pius XI then proposed the three main principles on which the reconstruction of the social order was to be based, namely the principle of subsidiarity, the principle of occupational organisation and the practice of social justice and social charity in the conduct of economic affairs. The practice of these principles and virtues is the only way of attacking the root of social disorder, of stopping the loss of souls who have turned away from God and of teaching them "to aspire with confidence to things that are eternal".
John XXIII
Mater et Magistra, issued by Pope John XXIII in 1961 to mark the 70th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, was the next encyclical to address the economic order. In reaffirming the principles enunciated by Leo XIII and Pius XI, John XXIII stressed that these principles are based on the requirements of human nature itself and conforming to the precepts of the Gospel and reason". John XXIII pushed the doctrine of the just wage a step further to include some degree of worker participation at the place of work. Looking at new aspects of the social question, the Pope lamented the neglect of agriculture and called for a greater balance between agriculture and other sectors of the economy and for justice in economic policies such as taxation, social insurance, social security, price protection and so on. John XXIII also appealed for greater solidarity among the whole of the human race and called for "a freer movement of goods, of capital and of men" in order to reduce the imbalance between nations. He dismissed the alarming propaganda of population explosion but called for foreign aid for the less developed countries provided it does not constitute "another form of colonialism". Since the social teaching of the Catholic Church is inseparable from her traditional teaching regarding man's life, John XXIII expressed the wish that social teaching be given more and more attention "in Catholic schools on all levels and especially in seminaries". This papal wish was made some thirty five years ago, yet the attention" given to social teaching in Catholic schools and seminaries is still nowhere near satisfactory.
Paul VI
Populorum Progressio, the encyclical issued by Pope Paul VI in 1967, marked a departure from the three previous ones in that it moved away from the notions of private property, the just wage and employer/employee relationships. Instead, Paul VI concentrated on the complete development of man and of all men.
The Pope argued that the social question had become worldwide and that it was necessary to encourage social justice among nations, and to offer the less developed countries the means through which they could develop themselves. Paul VI was more concerned with "the development of those people who are striving to escape from hunger, misery, endemic disease and ignorance". Paul VI's argument was that man's development should apply to him in his entirety because "development cannot be limited to mere economic growth". Dr. Ederer points out that the radical programme put forward by Pope Paul regarding the reality of human solidarity (i.e. concerted planning, aid for the poorer nations, equity in trade relations and universal charity) was denounced by the Wall Street Journal as "warmed over Marxism". Paul VI proclaimed that development is synonymous with peace and that "peace is something that is built up day after day, in the pursuit of an order intended by God, which implies a more perfect form of justice among men".
John Paul II
Laborem Exercens was the next social encyclical, issued by Pope John Paul II in 1981 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Rerum Novarum. In this encyclical the Holy Father places human work at the centre of economic life while solidarity is seen as the pre-eminent galvanising force. While Leo XIII looked at the conditions of the working class, John Paul II looks at the conditions of human work because "the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work". By the same token, says the Pope, it is also the task of the Church "to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated".
In this "Gospel of work" the Pope reminds us that "the proper subject of work continues to be man", and therefore it is the "subjective dimension" rather than the objective one which constitutes the "dignity of work". In the conflict between labour . and capital the Pope is unequivocal about "the principle of the priority of labour over capital" and the fact that labour "is a primary efficient cause" whereas capital is a "mere instrument or instrumental cause". While reiterating the right to private property, the Pope reminds us that the ownership of capital "should serve labour" and not be used "to practice exploitation of labour". John Paul II goes even further, stating that under suitable conditions the "socialisation" of certain means of production is not to be excluded; neither should the "joint ownership of the means of work" and worker participation in the management and/or profits of businesses.
Looking at the rights of workers the Pope, still on his radical trend, calls upon the "indirect employer" (i.e. government and agencies at national and international levels) to "act against unemployment" as well as to provide unemployment benefits to unemployed workers and their families on the principle of the right to life and subsistence. For those who are in employment, the family wage must be sufficient to support the whole family without the other spouse having to look for gainful employment. Where that is not possible, the state should provide "family allowances or grants to mothers devoting themselves exclusively to their families". The Pope calls for a "social re-evaluation of the mother's role".
The list of workers' rights put forward by John Paul II includes cheap or free health care, the right to rest at least on Sundays and the yearly vacation; the right to a pension and to insurance for old age or accidents at work: the right to a safe working environment and safe working processes. The Pope also upheld the right to join trade unions and the right to strike, which "must not be abused". He also spoke out against discrimination and called for handicapped people and immigrants to be given the same rights as other workers and to be treated fairly.
In raising these issues in Laborem Exercens, John Paul II widens the area of the social question to bring it in line with new developments in the world and at the same time to define the position of the Church's teaching concerning these new developments. The Pope puts it clearly and simply when he says that the Church "sees it as her particular duty to form a spirituality of work which will help all people come closer, through work, to God, the Creator and Redeemer, to participate in His salvific plan for man and the world and to deepen their friendship with Christ in their lives".
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis was issued in 1987 by John Paul to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Populorum Progressio: firstly, to pay homage to the "historic document of Paul VI and to its teachings"; secondly, to reaffirm the continuity of the social doctrine as well as its constant renewal". Continuity represents the "vital link with the Gospel of the Lord", while renewal is to keep in line with changing "historical conditions". Dr. Ederer points out that the central theme of this encyclical is solidarity at the international level as a result of world-wide economic interdependence and the now world-wide dimension of the social question. The Church has a duty to speak out, says the Pope, in view of the widening gap which has emerged between countries of the Northern and Southern hemispheres since the publication of Populorum Progressio. The Pope is well aware, too, that there are "specific signs of underdevelopment" increasingly afflicting developed countries in such areas as housing and unemployment. Widening the social question even further, the Pope questions the ethical character of the debt crisis which often hampers development, and the Cold War which drained away so many economic resources instead of helping poorer nations and consolidating international solidarity. Addressing the "demographic problem", the Pope condemns aid programmes which are tied up with population control and refers to them as a "form of racism" whereby white population, already on the road to demographic decline, attempts to prevent the complexion of the world becoming darker in the years ahead. The immorality of abortion, of euthanasia as well as ecological damage are also brought within the purview of the broader social question.
In dealing with the above issues, development is confined only to its economic dimension. There is the moral, cultural and spiritual dimensions of development which must not be lost sight of if material well-being is not to become futile "and in the end contemptible" says John Paul II. It is necessary in this context to move away from the "structures of sin" and to practice the virtue of solidarity—both at national and international levels because of the "equality of all peoples" and because "the goods of creation are meant for all". Our solidarity should be inspired by the supreme model of unity—the Trinity.
Centesimus Annus is the third social encyclical of the current pontiff, issued in 1991 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, but also to honour other encyclicals and documents which have amplified and embellished Rerum Novarum and which together make up the "social teaching", the "social doctrine" or the "social magisterium" of the Church. John Paul II re-examines the old issues—which were new issues in the days of Leo XIII—and asserts that the failure of economic liberalism led the Church to adopt "the preferential option for the poor" because the poor are casualties of the economic system and need help and protection. Option for the poor is, in fact, the practice of solidarity at national and international levels.
Looking at contemporary issues, the Pope points out that the failure of socialism can be put down to its atheistic source and to its subordination of individual good to the success of the socio-economic structure. While the state should be kept out of the autonomous spheres of economic activities, it nevertheless has an important role to play in setting up the juridical framework within which economic activities take place and to ensure the protection of parties involved in economic activities against the subservience of one to another. To those who advocate liberation theology as the only option, the Pope points out that the Church offers her social doctrine, her teaching about the human person redeemed in Christ and "her concrete commitment and material assistance in the struggle against marginalisation and suffering". In Centesimus Annus the Pope reiterates the Church's teaching on private property but points out that possession of material goods is not an absolute right and that their use must be "subordinated to their original, common destination as created goods" since God gave the earth for the sustenance of the whole of the human race "without excluding or favouring anyone." He therefore condemns human exploitation and consumerism which damage the physical and spiritual health of people and foster the use of drugs, pornography and the "culture of death" of which the aberrant practice of abortion is an essential element.
Despite upholding the right to private property and freedom of choice—two tenets of the capitalist creed—the Pope stresses that "the Church has no models to present". He is emphatic in his rejection of totalitarianism and liberal capitalism because the former "turns people into means rather than ends for which the political process exists" while the latter turns people "into means not the ends of the economic process". His preference is for a system with a tendency towards the "democratic ideal" based on the defence of human rights including the right to life from the moment of conception. Such a system would also uphold the principle of subsidiarity in areas where the primary responsibility of individuals and groups are protected with the state providing the general framework to encourage business activities and employment creation and providing support "in moments of crisis". By allowing intermediate social bodies to operate between the individual and the state, man would regain his dignity and make his way under God in freedom of choice and through the practice of the virtues of justice, charity and solidarity. The Church's intervention and teaching on the social question emanates from the "care and responsibility" for man, who has been entrusted to her by Christ Himself. Dr. Ederer points out that Mother Teresa of Calcutta is the embodiment of this interlocking aspect. Unless the Church speaks out and tackles the "new things" in the modern word which are turning fellow human beings into addicts of the new things—as well as creating a situation world-wide where rampant poverty and alienation co-exist with consumerism, extravagance and conspicuous consumption—the "yoke little better than that of slavery itself, of which Leo XIII spoke over a century ago, will be here to stay.
Essential Compendium
Dr. Ederer has done a superb job in bringing together in one book the major encyclicals dealing with socio-economic issues.
Each chapter presents in clear concise language the teaching of these seven papal pronouncements and their relevance to the modern world. For those who wish to acquaint themselves with the social teaching of the Catholic Church, the acquisition of Economics as if God Matters is a sine qua non. It is a compendium not to be missed. It will also be an invaluable asset for those in schools, colleges, universities and seminaries who wish to take up John XXIII's exhortation to make the Church's social teaching widespread. For those who opted for liberation theology and are now disillusioned following the demise of socialism, this book brings together for them the Church's teaching on issues with which they are preoccupied. These encyclicals, not the vague promises and false hopes of liberation theology, are the answer to their prayers. Reading Economics as if God Matters will, hopefully, lead readers to "read, reread and study the encyclicals"—which is one of Dr. Ederer's motivations in writing the book.
Finally, an added bonus is provided by way of the references at the end of each chapter. Of particular importance 'is the reference to two German thinkers, Oswald von Nell-Breuning and Heinrich Pesch, who had an enormous influence on the formulation of Catholic social teaching. Their writings should also act as a spur to further research for those avid readers keen to plumb the depths of the "social magisterium" of the Church.
7copy; Christian Order, Penerley Road, Catford, London SE6 2LH.
This item 494 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
