The tradition of Catholic social teaching may be considered as a more or less systematic doctrinal response from the Roman Catholic Church to some anthropological and theological questions as well as the social and ethical dilemmas posed by "modern development". This tradition supposedly started with the encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891) of Pope Leo XIII. Marked by a number of Papal encyclicals the tradition has also been elaborated and expressed in key documents of the second Vatican council and - sometimes most vividly - through pastoral letters, admonitions and addresses both from the Vatican and from many bishops conferences and individual bishops all over the world. Thus the doctrinal body of Catholic social teaching extends over more than hundred years covering a period of rapid transformation of the global economy under the impact of industrial capitalism. Catholic social teaching has focussed in particular on the "social questions" which this transformation throws up, and its vision on globalization, the latest phase of that transformation, builds upon this. A brief glance at this is presented below.

Economic justice for all

In 1986 the United States Bishops Conference published this pastoral letter on Catholic social teaching and the US economy. This letter contains a number of references to Catholic social teaching. Quoting the encyclical Mater et Magistra (1961), it summarizes the Christian vision of economic life as follows.

"The basis for all that the church believes about the moral dimensions of economic life is its vision of the transcendental worth - the sacredness - of human beings. The dignity of the human person, realized in community with others, is the criterion against which all aspects of economic life must be measured. (Mater and Magistra 219-220). All human beings, therefore, are ends to be served by the institutions that make up the economy, not means to be exploited for narrowly defined goals. Human personhood must be respected with a reverence that is religious. When we deal with each other, we should do so with the sense of awe that arises in the presence of something holy and sacred. For that is what human beings are: We are created in the image of God (Gen 1.27). Similarly, all economic institutions must support the bonds of community and solidarity that are essential to the dignity of persons. Wherever our economic arrangements fail to conform to the demands of human dignity lived in community, they must be questioned and reformed. These convictions have a biblical basis. They are also supported by a long tradition of theological and philosophical reflection and through the reasoned analysis of human experience by contemporary men and women". (chapter 2 par 28)

The letter, then, derives six standards about how the economy should serve human dignity:

Every economic decision and institution must be judged in the light of whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person
Human dignity can be realized and protected only in community
All people have a right to participate in the economic life of society
All members of society have a special obligation to the poor and vulnerable
Human rights are the minimum conditions for life in community
Society as a whole acting through public and private institutions has the moral responsibility to enhance human dignity and protect human rights

Sollicitudo rei socialis

In this encyclical (1988) Pope John Paul II in a theological reflection preludes the debate on economic globalization by interpreting the global situation as follows. First, authentic human development as a qualitative and integral process is worldwide blocked by "sinful structures" , characterized by the exclusive search for profit and the thirst for power at the cost of human dignity. Secondly, these structures are built up through the accumulation of innumerable personal sins and in final analysis rooted in the personal behaviour of human beings. Thirdly, the route towards conversion and the moral struggle for overcoming these sinful structures can be positively helped by a growing consciousness and moral interpretation of mutual human interdependence, visible in the growing world system. Fourthly, the structures and attitudes of relentless quest for profit and thirst for power can only be overcome through the virtue of solidarity, the diametrically opposed attitude of commitment to the well-being of the other, including the readiness to give one's life for the other, in stead of exploiting him or her, of serving the other in stead of oppressing him or her.

Ecclesia in America

In this postsynodal apostolic exhortation (1999) Pope John Paul II returns to the ethically ambiguous character of globalization. The ethical results of globalization can be positive or negative (par 20). Chapter V elaborates the positive demands of solidarity in a great number of concrete suggestions. In particular, par 55 again points to the value of Catholic social teaching as a contribution in the debate on the global economy. Besides the two key values already mentioned above ("human dignity" and "solidarity") a third element for evaluating the effects of globalization is mentioned here, namely subsidiarity. The international economy has to be judged in the light of the principles of social justice connected with the preferential commitment to the poor and the demands of international general welfare (bonum commune).

September 11

The events of September 11 2001 have given references to Catholic social teaching a new sense of urgency. In the aftermath of these events the tenth ordinary general assembly of the Synod of Bishops (October 2001) called for a deep moral change, given the unbearable income inequalities worldwide, and in this context again explicitly referred to the theological interpretation ("sinful structures") given to the global situation by Pope John Paul II in Sollicitudo rei socialis.

An integrated approach

The Vatican stresses time and again the urgency of an integrated morally inspired approach to the present international political order. In a recent message to the Federation of Italian Catholic University Students (April 26 2002) Pope John Paul II says that globalization presents a double challenge: rejection of terrorism and violence, and affirmation of the universal rights of peoples.

According to the Pope "the growing interdependence between peoples, while requiring the rejection of terrorism and violence as a way to reconstruct the essential conditions of justice and liberty, calls above all for strong moral, cultural and economic solidarity".

These two requirements can lay the foundations for "a political organization of international society that can guarantee the rights of all peoples".

The Pope pays in particular attention to the urgent need of development in so many poor countries.

"The solution to the evil of underdevelopment and the tragic situation in which millions of people live and die is fundamentally of an ethical nature, for which there must be corresponding consistent economic and political options".

The "first and decisive contribution to authentic development worthy of man is represented by the support of programmes of education and culture", because "the real progress of society stems above all from the formation of consciences, [and] the maturation of mentalities and customs".

" Man is the protagonist of development, not money or technology."

"Certainly, the reform of international trade and of the world financial system must also be sought, but each one is called to assume decisive commitments according to his own possibilities, by modifying his own lifestyle, which will lead to just and shared development, whose benefits are placed at the disposal of all".

"...to cooperate with development of peoples is imperative for each and every one, for men and women, for societies and nations."¹

On global governance

A European contribution is represented in the report on global governance (2001) commissioned by the Commission of the Bishop's Conferences of the European Community (COMECE). The report was composed by a distinguished group of international experts headed by Michel Camdessus, former managing director of the IMF. Referring to key documents of Catholic social teaching, the report addresses the global situation from the perspective of "responsibility": the responsibility of each country, of the world community, of all actors in society. At the political level it argues in favour of a new system of global governance in order to enhance the positive and to diminish the potentially negative effects of globalization. Such global governance should be inspired by a series of core values and principles: respect for human dignity, responsibility, solidarity, subsidiarity, coherence, transparency and accountability. For a new commitment to these principles and values the report seeks support from Catholic social teaching. The report then proceeds to an indication of some concrete steps towards global governance, focussing on proposals to strengthen the contribution of the WTO, the ILO and UNEP (or a World environmental organization). it proposes the establishment of a global governance group, which - according to the report - would bring voice to all regions and peoples of the world and thus bring us closer to the "public authority with universal competence" for which Pope John XXIII called in 1963.

Notes

1. Quotations are taken from the press report by Zenit, April 26 2002