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315 chapter 9 The Economy, Work, Poverty, and Immigration The first part of this chapter will present the basics of Catholic teaching on the economy and work. These two subjects belong together because the economic system of a country exists to provide the framework in which work takes place and exercises a great influence on all employers and employees. Pope Leo XIII set the tone for the Catholic approach to this subject with his defense of the right to acquire private property, especially through work, and his forceful reiteration of the long-standing Catholic teaching on the obligation to put one’s talents and resources at the service of others. Without using the phrase, Leo XIII was arguing for the universal destination of goods, the great theme of Pope John Paul II. He teaches that “the foundation of the universal destination of the earth’s goods” is God’s gift of the earth to the whole human race. To make this a reality people need private property, the knowledge required for work, and a deep sense of their duty to share with others. Without embracing generosity people cannot enter into “solidarity and communion with others” and, therefore, lapse into alienation. A man is alienated if he refuses to transcend himself and to live the experience of self-giving and of the formation of an authentic human community oriented toward his final destination, which is God. A society is alienated if its forms of social organization, production, and consumption make it more difficult to offer this gift of self and to establish this solidarity between people.1 The second part of this chapter focuses first on the challenge of poverty and on what should be done for individuals who can’t support themselves through work. The principle of the universal destination of all goods guides all welfare initiatives and private charity as well as the sec1 . Pope John Paul II, Centesimus annus (On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum novarum), no. 41. 316 The Universal Destination of Goods ond related subject: immigration. This same principle is also at the basis of a sustainable environment, the subject of the next chapter. The Economy What Catholic social doctrine (CSD) can say about the economy and economics is limited to moral principles, but significant nonetheless. It sets broad goals, but doesn’t get into the kind of detail that many would desire. Even though some goals will be unattainable at the present time, they nevertheless offer guidance for improvement strategies. The lack of detail is deliberate in order to allow Catholics the freedom to apply the principles of CSD to many and varied situations. As Pope Leo XIII said on one occasion about the possible contents of Rerum novarum, “If I gave my approval to particular points on matters essentially economic, I would be restricting the liberty of men in an area where God left them entirely to themselves.”2 The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church says that the economy has as its purpose “the development of wealth and its progressive increase , not only in quantity, but also in quality; this is morally correct if it is directed to man’s overall development in solidarity and to that of the society in which people live and work.”3 Goods and services must be in sufficient quantity and quality to serve the needs of all citizens. Good business enterprises respect the dignity of workers, produce a good product or service without damaging the environment, make a sufficient profit , pay a just wage, and create an atmosphere in which their workers can develop as persons and live in solidarity with one another, while making a genuine contribution to society by their work. Businesses, of course, cannot consistently deliver these goods unless business leaders are not only competent, but also people of good character. The mere pursuit of selfinterest is not sufficient to ensure the just management of a business or the success of a nation’s economy.4 This became painfully evident during the recent economic crisis in the United States, In Laborem exercens (On Human Work), Pope John Paul II argues that the 2. Quoted from Eduardo Soderni, The Pontificate of Leo XIII, trans. Barbara Barclay Carter (London: Burns, Oates and Washburne, 1934), vol. I, 67. 3. Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2004), no. 334. 4. For a discussion of this point see my appendix on Pope Benedict’s...

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