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When an institution calling itself Catholic removes Christ and grace from its activities, then it devolves into another secular and faddish ideology whose power to transform hearts is greatly diminished.

By Theodore Misiak, Catholic World Report, August 14, 2023

Theodore Misiak has a Ph.D. in Economics and many years of experience in both business and academia.

In the previous article we mentioned two movements, Laudato Si’ and the Economy of Francesco (EoF), that are taking root in Catholic higher education. So far, we outlined some of the foundations of Catholic environmentalism. Here, we explore Catholic teaching on economic justice.

Human activity and virtue

It is worthwhile to start by considering the distinction between an economy and economic activity. “Economy” is an abstract noun and not a moral agent. Pope St. John Paul II pointed out that placing blame not on “the moral conscience of an individual, but rather on some vague entity or anonymous collectivity such as the situation, the system, society, structures or institutions” is incompatible with Church teaching. The authentic teaching is that social sins “are the result of the accumulation and concentration of many personal sins.” Furthermore, a “situation-or likewise an institution, a structure, society itself-is not in itself the subject of moral acts. Hence a situation cannot in itself be good or bad.” (Reconciliation et Paenitentia [RP], 16). …

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