Friday, May 18, 2018

The Vatican — Considerations for an Ethical Discernment Regarding Some Aspects of the Present Economic-Financial System


The latest in Catholic social teaching. 
Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical letter Rerum novarum*, which advocated economic distributism while criticizing both socialism and capitalism (though not market economics per se). Its roots can be traced to the writings of Catholic thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo, and is also derived from concepts present in the Bible and the cultures of the ancient Near East.— Wikipedia 
While not well-known in economic circles, Catholic social teaching is a "third way" between capitalism and socialism that attempts to integrate freedom with reason in a way that recognizes the value of the individuals along with their social embeddedness, viewing economic liberalism as exaggerating the former and the socialism as overvaluing the collective.

This is the latest iteration.

The Vatican
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Dicastery For Promoting Integral Human Development
Oeconomicae et pecuniariae quaestiones

* "Rerum novarum" is Latin, phrase meaning "new things." Idiomatically, it signifies "revolution."

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