Tackling capitalism: What Vatican II achieved and what still needs to be done

Abstract

This article provides an account of papal views of capitalism prior to, during and after Vatican II. It argues that these views offer a consistent critique of capitalist economic systems and challenges the Catholic neoconservative and neoliberal reading of post Vatican II papal teaching. The article suggests that this critique needs to be better communicated and makes some suggestions about what might be done to challenge the seductions of an unsustainable consumerist culture.