Recharging the Catholic Church’s social justice tradition

[rug]

By Edward Cuddy
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
on March 29, 2014 - 12:01 AM, updated March 29, 2014 at 11:10 PM

Wow. Where did this guy come from? Well, this “guy” came from Latin America, a land where poverty was rampant and thousands of people, including nuns and priests, had been murdered in the struggle for justice. It’s no wonder that Pope Francis’ first major document, “Evangelii Gaudiam” (“The Joy of the Gospel”) urged communities worldwide to address the poverty and greed prevalent in their own backyards.

The pope “is a master at bringing individual spirituality and social justice together,” said Harvey Cox, professor emeritus at Harvard Divinity School. However, Francis was simply updating the church’s social justice tradition, launched by Leo XIII’s “Rerum Novarum” in 1891. In 1919, the American bishops followed suit with their declaration, “Social Reconstruction.” Rejecting the laissez-faire philosophy, the hierarchy set forth several policies aimed at making capitalism work for all classes, including minimum wages for workers, unemployment, old-age insurance, health care and the right of workers to organize.

When the stock market crashed in 1929, propelling the nation into the Great Depression, Catholics, influenced by their church’s teachings and their own experiences, were primed to support President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The community included bishops, priests, politicians, union leaders and city machines organized mostly by Irish Catholic bosses.

Yes, the machines were corrupt, but it was corruption with a heart. Many of the leaders, descendants of survivors from Ireland’s Great Famine, won their allegiance with the immigrants and the unlucky by providing jobs, food and other programs, enabling people to survive and thrive in the harsh industrial cities. In a time when laissez-faire was dominant, the machines provided a model for government intervention to help the lower classes.

http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/recharging-the-catholic-churchs-social-justice-tradition-20140329

[goldent]

1. The social justice stands of the RCC are not well known.

A few quotes on the right to fair remuneration and income distribution

Remuneration is the most important means for achieving justice in work relationships.[659] The “just wage is the legitimate fruit of work”.

....

The simple agreement between employee and employer with regard to the amount of pay to be received is not sufficient for the agreed-upon salary to qualify as a “just wage”, because a just wage “must not be below the level of subsistence”[662] of the worker: natural justice precedes and is above the freedom of the contract.

....

The economic well-being of a country is not measured exclusively by the quantity of goods it produces but also by taking into account the manner in which they are produced and the level of equity in the distribution of income, which should allow everyone access to what is necessary for their personal development and perfection. An equitable distribution of income is to be sought on the basis of criteria not merely of commutative justice but also of social justice that is, considering, beyond the objective value of the work rendered, the human dignity of the subjects who perform it.

For a veritable encyclopedia of the RRC social doctrine see

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html

[olegramps]

2. What I find incongruent are the polices of right-wing Catholic politicians.

Ryan's latest budget is a prime example. How can his destruction of social programs to assist the working class poor and innocent children be left unchallenged. Especially when they are coupled with tax breaks for the wealthiest and increases in military spending. I fail to see how these extreme actions can be justified in view of Jesus' teachings of the paramount duty of assisting those in need and yet claim to be a faithful Catholic. In the Gospel of Mathew chapter 25, Jesus states unequivocally that the failure to assist those puts one in jeopardy of damnation..."I tell you, whenever you refuse to help one of these least important ones, you refuse to help me. These then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life."

I can only hope that the American bishops would condemn these policies as blatantly un-Christian. I can only hope that they would condemn these attacks on the poor as vigorously as they have denounced Catholic politicians for not publicly condemning abortion and in some instances refusing them Communion.

[No Vested Interest]

3. For every right-wing Catholic politician, there are likely two progressive politicians.

Check out the religious affiliation of pols from the Northeast states, and California, for example.

(And, I'm putting this out not having done an actual count, but just from past knowledge.)

[olegramps]

4. Sorry, but I fail to get your point.

What does that have to do with powerful Catholic politicians, such as Boehner and Ryan, who are sponsoring bills to cut assistance to the most needy, children and the elderly?

[No Vested Interest]

5. Pardon the inarticulateness of my comment. My point is that there are

many (more?) Catholic politicians of the progressive stripe than there are of the regressive (RW) type.
And many have been and are influential, starting with Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Dick Durbin, working on down through the Congress, especially those representing the Northeast.

More directly to your point, Boehner and Ryan are indeed acting contrary to perceived Catholic social justice, but, thankfully, there are many Catholic pols working against the policies of these two.

[olegramps]

6. Thanks for your response.

The immediate problem is that these two people, for example, are in very powerful positions and can bring untold suffering to millions of our fellow citizens.

Until they are removed from power the will continue, not incidentally, their immoral war against the poor with approval of the majority of the fellow Republicans. While the Democrats slept, the Republicans gained control of many state houses and gerrymandered districts in insure their reelection. It would take a Herculean effort by the Democrats to defeat them. While well meaning Catholic politicians oppose their evilness, in reality their efforts are futile.

This brings me to another point. The Catholic hierarchy in many dioceses pushed their flocks to vote on a one issue choice of their opposition to abortion. Their one issue view, neglected that the Republicans had seized this issue solely for political gain, and neglected the facts that they were blind to their detrimental policies that would affect the working class and poor.

[No Vested Interest]

7. I agree with your statement, especially two points:

1. "While the Democrats slept" - so telling and apparently we/Dems still do not have the answers to overcome the inertia at election time. We know we have the numbers, as statewide totals are larger for Dems, as in Ohio, but redistricting locks up some of these states for Republicans for some years to come.

2. "Catholic hierarchy...pushed their flocks... on a one issue choice of their opposition to abortion." Unfortunately, this is still going on, as occasional glimpses into EWTN remind me, and, also, unfortunately, the allegiance of many Catholics has been turned for the long-term to the right-wing philosophy of Republicanism. That's why I find the railing against Catholicism and religion in general that is so prevalent on this site and some other Dem sites so counter-productive.