Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI articulated the demands placed upon us by our obligation to the vulnerable in our midst: “Jesus taught his disciples to pray by asking the Heavenly Father not for “my” but for “our” daily bread. Thus, he desired every person to feel co‐responsible for his brothers so that no one would want…
I have been in several seminars and informal conversations where someone asks “what is subsidiarity, anyway?” In response, I have heard both knowledgeable lay people, priests, and bishops answer something to this effect: “subsidiarity is the principle that actions, when possible, should be taken at the lowest level,” or “it is basically decentralization.” In this…
Pope Francis–Time Magazine’s Person of the Year–has captured the attention and the imagination of the world. His recent Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) has provoked much comment and no little controversy. In it, echoing his predecessors, he laments a consumerism focused on things rather than people. He mourns for the many places where humans serve the economy rather the other way around. He condemns what he calls a “throw away culture” that excludes and marginalizes the weakest and the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters.
His words should provoke reflection–and lead to action–especially in the face of the challenges faced by low-wage workers in our economy today. …
Every year the Lumen Christi Institute conference on Catholic Social Teaching and Economics invites high-profile economists to the University of Chicago to present their work and engage in the ongoing conversation between economics and Catholic Social Teaching. On a larger stage, the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences regularly places top economists next to theologians, philosophers, and bishops to explore issues of common concern.
Why would an economist ever want to enter into a conversation with Catholic Social Teaching (CST)? Economists, like most people, take moral questions seriously, and think that the work of economists can and should inform attempts to answer these questions. Because CST is morally and intellectually serious, and invites prominent economists (Catholic and non-Catholic) into its conversations, it is an obvious candidate for attention from economists. …