Have you ever thought about how many Catholics are in this country? You might be surprised to know that the number is somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 million! Yes, its true - Catholics make up almost 25% of the population of the United States.
When you consider that only 40% of the population voted in the last presidential election, the potential influence of Catholics in our country is astounding. While the idea of influencing politics immediately comes to mind, there is another less obvious area of life where Catholics can have a big influence — the economy.
The US Catholic bishops actually issued a personal invitation to all Catholics to do just that in the form of a pastoral letter written in 1986, entitled Economic Justice for All.
In our every day life, it is easy to see how our path to holiness is deeply entwined with our family life, as we perform the role of spouse, parent, sibling or child. The bishops make the point that our economic life is also part of how we live out our faith and achieve holiness. Their goal in writing the letter was to look at economic life through the eyes of faith in order to help Catholics live their faith in the marketplace; as consumers, citizens, workers, and owners. We must realize that we are each economic actors every day.
Every dollar we put into the economy, by purchasing goods and services or investing in a company's stock through a mutual fund, annuity, or direct purchase, serves a purpose. We are enabling companies to make a profit, expand their business, and donate to charities.
Do we think about what activities we are supporting by the way that we spend our money? Are we aware of what the companies we support are doing with their earnings, how they treat their employees, or if they are harming the environment?
We are responsible for the economic decisions we make and the outcome of those decisions. The bishops say in Economic Justice for All that "economic decisions have human consequences and moral content; they help or hurt people, strengthen or weaken family life, advance or diminish the quality of justice in our land."
Given the size of our Catholic population, we can go a long way to ensuring economic justice for all by recognizing our economic power and choosing to support companies through our purchasing and investing that enhance our life together as a community.
If you are currently invested in mutual funds, evaluate them and see what companies they are invested in. Do those companies have any OSHA violations? Do they make violent video games? Are they paying a just wage to their employees? How much cash compensation do their board and CEO make?
If you aren't comfortable with the answers to those questions, it's time to look for a new place to invest.
"Followers of Christ must avoid a tragic separation between faith and everyday life" – Economic Justice for All
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January 30th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Joe DeVet, Houston
The principles cited in the article from "Economic Justice for All" are fine as far as they go, and as far as they illustrate points in the article. But beware of reading the whole letter–it's built on faulty economic assumptions, and leaves the impression, as many "Justice and Peace" exhortations unfortunately do, that the liberal political/economic agenda is equivalent to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As in any facet of life, if we make decisions or moral judgments based on faulty science, we cause harm and lose credibility. It turns out that many attempts to help the poor, based on the kind of mindset in this bishops' letter, have harmed them instead.
There were a number of good and knowledgeable Catholic public servants who tried to inform the bishops sponsoring this letter on sound economic principles. One of them was William Simon, who for a time was Treasury Secretary of the US. The bishops, led by Rembert Weakland as chair of this effort, turned a deaf ear. Weakland was later exposed as a corrupt shepherd, whose economic stewardship over his own Archdiocese (Milwaukee) turned out to be less than exemplary to say the least!
January 30th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Thanks, Joe. Have you also noticed that the most vocal "preferential option for the poor" advocates in our parishes are often the quietest when it comes to chiming in on behalf of defense of the unborn? By the same token some of the more prominent religious orders (female, esp.) whose names everybody would recognize also seem to have lost their voice for the cause of the unborn, but seem to have no hesitation speaking out when it comes to opposition to the Iraq war, saving the environment, or advocating "fair trade."
As to Ms. Emrich's proposals, I think investing in socially responsible corporations is a commendable thing. Let's also ask: are they pharmaceutical companies that make abortifacients or financially support organizations like Planned Parenthood Federation of America (like Starbucks, for instance)?
Let's make sure we keep our Catholic Social Justice priorities in the right order. The bishops said as much in their 2007 "Faithful Citizenship" statement. See esp. no.'s 24 thru 29.
January 30th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Joe:
Thanks for bringing up William Simon. His book A Time for Truth is one of my regular recommended reads (yes, I know it was ghost-written by Efron, but it’s still a sound read, clearly delivered, on certain economic policies.) It’s out of print, but one might still find used copies on Amazon.
In Christ,
Michael
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried”
- GK Chesterton
“The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.” - also GKC
January 30th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
"The US Catholic bishops actually issued a personal invitation to all Catholics to do just that in the form of a pastoral letter written in 1986, entitled Economic Justice for All."
I remember that letter well. I didn't take them up on it because I saw through the left wing propaganda that was disguised therein.
While President Reagan at the time was addressing economics through Reaganomics the bishops were casting doubt. He was proposing vouchers for private and Catholic schools and the bishops looked the other way. They were worried about nuclear annihilation while the seminaries and parishes were pregnant with scandals.
No, I wouldn't give that bunch any credibility. At the time they knew about economics about as much as they understood Star Wars defense.