Economic Life
As per Chapter 7 of the Compendium of the Social
Doctrine of the Church, “Through the gift of his
Spirit & the conversion of hearts, he [Jesus]
comes to establish the 'Kingdom of God', so
that a new manner of social life is made
possible, in justice, brotherhood, solidarity &
sharing. The Kingdom inaugurated by Christ
perfects the original goodness of the created
order & of human activity, which were com-
promised by sin. Freed from evil & being
placed once more in communion with God,
man is able to continue the work of Jesus,
with the help of his Spirit....
“economic activity is to be considered and
undertaken as a grateful response to the
vocation which God holds out for each
person....Economic activity and material
progress must be placed at the service of man
and society....Goods, even when legitimately
owned, always have a universal destination....
“The Fathers of the Church insist more on the
need for the conversion and transformation of
the consciences of believers than on the need
to change the social and political structures of
their day….
“The social doctrine of the Church recognizes
the proper role of profit as the first indicator
that a business is functioning well....But this
does not cloud her awareness…that a business
may show a profit while not properly serving
society....recourse to usury is to be morally
condemned....
“The Church's social doctrine insists on the
need for business owners & management to
strive to structure work in such a way so as to
promote the family, especially mothers, in the
fulfilment of their duties….
“A truly competitive market is an effective
instrument for attaining important objectives
of justice…. The free market cannot be judged
apart from the ends that it seeks…& the values
that it transmits on a societal level....The
inversion of the relation-ship between means
and ends, however, can make it degenerate
into an inhuman & alienating institution….
“[The market must] be firmly rooted in its
eth