Religion and Business: The Catholic Church and the American Economy

Gallup poll, reported in San Jose Mercury News, August 24, 1986; Time poll reported in Time, March 30, 1987, p. 37.

Benestad J. Brian , ed., Pursuit of a Just Social Order: Policy Statements of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1966–1980 (Washington, D.C.: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1982), pp. 143–144, 180–181.

For an account of this discussion, see Nolan Hugh J. , ed., Pastoral Letters of the United States Catholic Bishops—Vol. TV, 1975–1983 (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1984), pp. 287–290. For the text of the letter on Marxism, in that same volume, see “Pastoral Letter on Marxist Communism,” November 12, 1980, pp. 380–403. Also see Weakland Rembert , “Where Does the Economic Pastoral Stand?” Origins, April 26, 1984, pp. 753–759.

The encyclicals can be found in Carlen Claudia , ed., The Papal Encyclicals (McGrath Publishing Co., 1981); the U.S. bishops' letters are collected in Abell Aaron I. , ed., American Catholic Thought on Social Questions (Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1968), and Cronin John F. , Catholic Social Principles: The Social Teaching of the Catholic Church Applied to American Economic Life, (Milwaukee, WI: Bruce, 1950).

The most complete final edition of the final version of the letter is Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy , in Origins, 16, November 27, 1986, pp. 409–455. This edition includes Appendix I, which names the various people who appeared before the Committee; and also Appendix II, which names the members of the Committee and the seven consultants and five staff members. Another edition of the letter is in book format: Economic Justice for All: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy (Washington, D.C.: National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1986). This edition runs to 188 pages and includes a bibliography.

The essays presented to the bishops at the University of Notre Dame are collected in Hauck John W. Williams Oliver F. , eds., Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy: Working Papers for a Bishops' Pastoral (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984).

National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy , in Origins, Vol. 14, November 15, 1984, pp. 337 ff.

U.S. Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response , in Origins, May 19, 1983, pp. 1–32.

Hebblethwaite Petter , “Bishops' Groups Draw Fire from Ratzinger,” National Catholic Reporter, December 14, 1985.

“Bishops' Views on the Economics Pastoral,” Origins, June 6, 1985, pp. 1, 35–36.

Higgins George G. , “The Social Mission of the Church After Vatican II,” America, July 26, 1984, p. 28.

Seligman Daniel , “Sins of Omission,” Fortune, December 10, 1984, pp. 183–184.

Simon William E. Novak Michael , Toward the Future: Catholic Social Thought and the U.S. Economy (New York, NY: Lay Commission on Catholic Social Teaching, 1984).

Weakland Rembert , “Toward a Second Draft of the Economics Pastoral,” Origins, June 27, 1985, pp. 93–95.

Weakland Rembert , “The Issues: Between Drafts of the Pastoral,” Origins, May 23, 1985, pp. 8–12.

Enthoven Alain C. , “Goal for the Pastoral Letter: Expose Holes in the ‘Social Safety Net,”’ Health Progress (January/February 1985), pp. 36–41.

Gergen David , “The Right Message at the Right Time,” Washington Post, November 18, 1984, p. 8.

“Economic Pastoral Fires Conference,” National Catholic Reporter, February 8, 1985, p. 4.

See the excellent account of this discussion and of many of the written critiques of the Pastoral Letter in Langan John , “Notes on Moral Theology,” Theological Studies, 48 (March 1987): 135–156.

“The Bishops, Once More,” National Review, December 14, 1984, p. 17.

Johnson Elmer W. , “Shaping Our Economic Future,” address given in San Francisco and printed by General Motors (Detroit, MI: General Motors, 1985).

Johnson Thomas S. , “An Agenda for Economic Growth and Social Justice,” in Gannon Thomas M. , ed., The Catholic Challenge to the American Economy: Reflections on the U.S. Bishops' Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy, (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1987), pp. 218–227.

Weakland Rembert G. , “The Economic Pastoral: Draft Two,” America, September 21, 1985, p. 129.

Weakland Rembert , “New Draft Tackles Life-styles, World Debt,” National Catholic Reporter, June 6, 1986, p. 18.

Ibid.

Minutes of the Thirty-Fourth General Meeting, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 10–13, 1986, Washington, D.C., pp. 32–41, 137–187.

Douglass R. Bruce , ed., The Deeper Meaning of Economic Life: Critical Essays on the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Letter on the Economy (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1986). These papers were originally presented at a conference at Georgetown University.

See articles by Bernadin Joseph Cardinal O'Connor John Cardinal Block Walter , Brian Benestad, and others in Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy, 2 (1985); Lutz Charles P. , God, Goods and the Common Good (Minneapolis, MN: Augusburg, 1987); Block Walter , The U.S. Bishops and Their Critics: An Economic and Ethical Perspective (Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, 1986); Freeman Roger A. , Does America Neglect Its Poor (Palo Alto, CA: Hoover Institute, 1987).

Gannon Thomas M. , S.J., ed., The Catholic Challenge to the American Economy: Reflections on the U.S. Bishops' Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1987).

Mt. 19:16–26; also Mt. 6:25–34.

See, for example, Peters Thomas Waterman Robert , In Search of Excellence (New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1982).