APPLICATION TO CONTEMPORARY QUESTIONS
54. The Church would be failing in moral courage if its social teaching were
allowed to remain at the level of broad generalities in order to avoid
controversy. As bishops, we have a particular responsibility to discern
and interpret the signs of the times, even at the risk of sometimes being
mistaken. There are trends in British society and political life which
seem to us to be contrary to Catholic teaching, as well as features of
public and private morality which are commendable. Committed as we are
to the promotion of the Church's social teaching, we believe there are
many aspects of present British society which merit critical examination
in the light of it.
55. We do not do this critical examination in a detached way, for we are
part of British society and subject to the same examination. Nor do we do
it any partisan spirit, for while none of the main political parties
merits unqualified support from Catholics, none of them is excluded from
that support in principle. We note with approval the commitment to the
common good which has often been expressed in Conservatism, the special
place that Labour has traditionally given to the alleviation of poverty
and the defence of workers' rights, and the stress placed by Liberal
Democrats on local democracy.
56. Some of the papal encyclicals on social teaching, especially those
of Leo XIII and Pius XI, described socialism as containing a philosophy
of humanity which was incompatible with Catholic teaching. For
generations now, bishops of the Catholic Church in England and Wales
have judged that the Labour Party, though it has described itself as
having a commitment to socialism, does not correspond to those continental
socialist movements which the popes decried. Nor does the papal
condemnation of unlimited free-market, or laissez-faire, capitalism apply
indiscriminately to the Conservative Party.
The political vocation
57. There is a strong Christian tradition of public service in all the
major British parties which we wish to applaud, and we particularly wish
to declare our respect and gratitude towards all those who undertake the
responsibilities of political life, whatever party they belong to. We are
especially grateful to Catholic citizens who join and play an active part
in the political party of their choice, provided they take their Catholic
principles, including those set out in this document, with them. We offer
them every possible encouragement.
58. Not the least of the concerns we have at this time is the low status
of politicians in public estimation, which is neither justified by the
evidence nor good for the health of democracy. Politics is an honourable
vocation, which often exacts great personal cost from those who engage in
it, and from their families. The fact that some politicians from time to
time fall short of the highest standards is not grounds for dismissing the
whole class of politician as unworthy of respect.
59. An attitude of cynicism towards those engaged in public life is one
of those tendencies against which we feel we must speak out. Not the least
of its harmful consequences could be the discouragement of those
contemplating a political career. It is the teaching of the Church that
all rightful authority comes from God, and therefore those who exercise
legitimate political authority are worthy of respect. It is not ignoble
to want a successful political career, nor dishonourable for politicians
to seek political power.
60. At the same time politicians must be especially careful not to use,
or to appear to use, their privileged position for personal gain. Those
politicians who have, by their behaviour, contributed to a climate of
distrust must bear some considerable responsibility. Part of the
responsibility must also lie with the highly partisan quality of public
political debate, where it has become almost customary to attribute the
worst motives to one's political opponents. Politicians of one party
should show more respect towards those of other parties. Those who engage
in political abuse can expect retaliation in kind, and they are inviting
the public to believe the worst about all politicians of every political
persuasion.
61. This climate of mutual personal distrust and abuse has at times been
fostered quite recklessly by the mass media. It is a constant theme of
Christ's teaching in the Gospels that one should be more conscious of
one's own sinfulness than of the sins of others. Political debate in
Britain badly needs re-moralising and the injection into it of an element
of sincere humility, if people are to regain faith in it. If they do not
regain faith in it, the outlook for the future of democracy in Britain is
not good.
Specific issues in a general election
62. We find quite compatible with Catholic Social Teaching the British
constitutional doctrine that while a general election is the election
of individuals to act on behalf of their constituents in Parliament,
those elected are not mere delegates. That is to say the political
allegiance of the candidate is only one of various considerations it
is proper to take into account.
63. Many of the issues that an MP has to face in the life of a
Parliament are not known at the time of an election. One of the
most important questions an elector has to enquire into at an election
is therefore about the attitude and character of each candidate.
It is relevant to take into account what is known about a candidate's
personal morality, although this does not condone intrusion into
individual privacy. The question must be: can an elector be confident
that the person for whom he or she is voting is the best of those
offering themselves - the best to make judgements on behalf of the
elector on matters not yet conceived of, as well as those which are
being aired in the election?
64. This consideration will discourage the making of a choice solely
on the basis of one policy issue alone, even where the attitudes of
a candidate on such an issue are at variance with Catholic teaching.
On the other hand, the attitude of a candidate on that one issue may
indicate a general philosophy or personal bias, for instance contempt
for those who uphold the sacredness of human life, which Catholics
will find deeply objectionable.
65. These are matters to be explored within an election campaign,
examining both the policies advanced by the candidates and the reasoning
behind those policies. And it is an important part of British
constitutional doctrine that even after an election, MPs have a duty
to represent all their constituents, not just those who voted for them.
There are many ways that argument, persuasion and legitimate pressure
can be brought to bear on an MP by constituents who object to that MP's
performance in a particular respect, yet a general election must never
be confused with a single-issue referendum. It is legitimate for an
individual elector to say to a candidate: "I disagree with you
totally on this one issue, but I may vote for you, and in return I
shall want to come and talk to you further about the issue over which
we disagree." It is most unlikely a candidate would decline a
voter's offer of support on that basis.
The right to life
66. Taking into account all these considerations, we would nevertheless
remind Catholic electors of the alarming extent to which Britain has
become a particular example of what the present Pope called a 'culture
of death'. In the three decades since the passage of the Abortion Act,
human life has been devalued to the extent where abortion is widely
regarded as a remedy for any social or personal difficulties. We have
to raise our voices in protest against all destruction of human life in
the womb, and to the widespread blunting of consciences that has taken
place since the Act was passed. Even casual abortion, often for the sake
of mere personal convenience, now seems increasingly acceptable.
67. Too often the same mentality is brought to bear on other ethical
issues raised by developments in medical technology, such as the
treatment of those judged to be brain-dead and permanently unconscious,
or elderly patients with a terminal illness, or human embryos conceived
outside the womb as part of fertility treatment. The prevalence of
abortion, as well as being an evil in itself, has led to the widespread
abandonment of fundamental moral principles, even in areas where their
influence is most needed.
68. New ethical challenges in the field of medical treatment will not be
satisfactorily resolved unless the foundations of medical ethics are
securely rooted in respect for human life at all its stages. Everything
involving the use or disposal of human life, as a means to another end,
must be categorically rejected. The Catholic community has to renew its
efforts to awaken the conscience of the majority of fellow citizens in
these matters, and should draw encouragement from the widespread evidence
of unease in the public mind. But we emphasise once again that all forms
of public campaigning, especially on 'life' issues, must be conducted
non-violently and with respect for the law.
69. A central concept of Catholic Social Teaching is the common good,
whose meaning is close to the traditional term 'common weal.' At
times in the past the common good has been presented as an idea in
opposition to the rights of individuals, therefore as a 'collectivist'
or 'corporatist' political theory. But more recent social teaching has
seen the common good as a guarantor of individual rights, and as the
necessary public context in which conflicts of individual rights and
interests can be adjudicated or reconciled.
70. Public authorities have the common good as their prime responsibility.
The common good stands in opposition to the good of rulers or of a
ruling (or any other) class. It implies that every individual, no matter
how high or low, has a duty to share in promoting the welfare of the
community as well as a right to benefit from that welfare. 'Common'
implies 'all-inclusive': the common good cannot exclude or exempt any
section of the population. If any section of the population is in fact
excluded from participation in the life of the community, even at a
minimal level, then that is a contradiction to the concept of the common
good and calls for rectification.
71. If that exclusion comes about from poverty, even if only 'relative
poverty,' then that poverty demands attention. Governments cannot be
satisfied with provision for poor people designed only to prevent
absolute poverty, such as actual starvation or physical homelessness.
What level of social security provision is adequate to meet the
criteria of the common good is a political judgement, and may indeed
involve trial and error. But there must come a point at which the scale
of the gap between the very wealthy and those at the bottom of the
range of income begins to undermine the common good. This is the point
at which society starts to be run for the benefit of the rich, not for
all its members.
72. There are some ideological thinkers who advocate this approach.
We would question their proposition that the further enrichment of
the already wealthy must, as the inevitable result of economic laws,
eventually also improve the lot of the less well-off and the poor.
This proposition is contrary to common sense as well as to actual
experience. Some of those who employ it may merely be seeking
justification for the pursuit of their own economic interests. Even
from the point of view of the wealthy this is self-defeating. Jesus
in the Gospels repeatedly warns about the dangers of over-attachment
to material riches. Those dangers are not just to the individual,
but also to the community.
73. The Church's social teaching can be summed up as the obligation
of every individual to contribute to the good of society, in the
interests of justice and in pursuit of the 'option for the poor'.
This is the context most likely to foster human fulfilment for
everyone, where each individual can enjoy the benefit of living in
an orderly, prosperous and healthy society. A society with
insufficient regard for the common good would be unpleasant and
dangerous to live in, as well as unjust to those it
excluded.
74. Catholic Social Teaching recognises the fundamental and positive
value of business, the market, private property and free human
creativity in the economic sector. But sometimes market forces
cannot deliver what the common good demands, and other remedies
have to be sought. The real 'poor' in a relatively prosperous
Western society are those without sufficient means to take part in
the life of the community. This means they cannot participate in
the formation of public policies that might protect them from the
adverse consequences of market forces. By poverty they are excluded
from the community, and they are denied the rights of membership.
Their choices are circumscribed; they have little personal
freedom.
75. In a developed democratic society such as ours, this is one
area in which electors in a general election and members of all
political parties can make good their individual 'option for
the poor'. The first duty of the citizen towards the common good
is to ensure that nobody is marginalised in this way and to bring
back into a place in the community those who have been marginalised
in the past. The alternative is the creation of an alienated
'underclass', bereft of any sense of participation in or belonging
to the wider community. The existence of such an 'underclass' can
never be regarded as a price worth paying in return for some other
social advantages to be enjoyed by the majority.
Morality in the market place.
76. The Catholic doctrine of the common good is incompatible with
unlimited free-market, or laissez-faire, capitalism, which insists
that the distribution of wealth must occur entirely according to
the dictates of market forces. This theory presupposes that the
common good will take care of itself, being identified with the
summation of vast numbers of individual consumer decisions in a
fully competitive, and entirely free, market economy. Its central
dogma (as expressed by Adam Smith, the founding father of capitalist
theory, in his The Wealth of Nations 1776) is the belief that in
an entirely free economy, each citizen, through seeking his own gain,
would be, "led by an invisible hand to promote an end which
was not part of his intention," namely the prosperity of
society. This does sometimes happen; but to say that it invariably
must happen, as if by a God-given natural law, is a view which can
amount to idolatry or a form of economic superstition. Smith himself
did not appear to think the rule was invariable, for he also observed,
"By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of
society"(italics added).
77. The Catholic Church, in its social teaching, explicitly rejects
belief in the automatic beneficence of market forces. It insists
that the end result of market forces must be scrutinised and if
necessary corrected in the name of natural law, social justice,
human rights, and the common good. Left to themselves, market
forces are just as likely to lead to evil results as to good ones.
It is often overlooked that Adam Smith himself did not envisage
markets operating in a value-free society, but assumed that individual
consumer choices would be governed by moral considerations, not least
the demands of justice.
78. The Church recognises that market forces, when properly
regulated in the name of the common good, can be an efficient
mechanism for matching resources to needs in a developed society.
No other system has so far shown itself superior in encouraging
wealth creation and hence in advancing the prosperity of the
community, and enabling poverty and hardship to be more generously
relieved. Centrally commanded economies, in contrast, have been
seen to be inefficient, wasteful, and unresponsive to human needs.
Nor have they fostered a climate of personal liberty. In a market
economy the existence of a wide variety of consumer choice means
that individual decisions can be made according to individual
wants and needs, thus respecting certain aspects of human freedom
and following the principle of subsidiarity. Moreover the good
functioning of the market requires ethical behaviour and the
embodiment of certain ethical principles within a regulatory and
legal framework. This reflects the corresponding principle of
solidarity. There is no doubt, too, that competition can often
harness creative energy and encourage product innovation and
improvement.
79. The distinction has always to be kept in mind between a
technical economic method and a total ideology or world view.
Catholic Social Teaching has constantly been aware of the
tendency of free market economic theory to claim more for
itself than is warranted. In particular, an economic creed
that insists the greater good of society is best served by
each individual pursuing his or her own self-interest is likely
to find itself encouraging individual selfishness, for the
sake of the economy. Christian teaching that the service of
others is of greater value than the service of self is sure
to seem at odds with the ethos of a capitalist economy.
80. As a result of that ethos there is bound to be a general
discouragement and devaluing of unselfish actions, and the
cultivation of the cynical assumption that those engaged in
unselfish actions do in fact have hidden selfish motives.
This attitude is one of the causes of the general discredit
in which politicians and other public servants are held.
It has wide implications for the moral health of society
generally. Those who advocate unlimited free-market capitalism
and at the same time lament the decline in public and private
morality, to which the encouragement of selfishness is a prime
contributing factor, must ask themselves whether the messages
they are sending are in fact mutually contradictory. People
tend to need more encouragement to be unselfish than to be
selfish, so it is not difficult to imagine which of these two
messages will have most influence. A wealthy society, if it is
a greedy society, is not a good society.
Option against the poor?
81. These are among the reasons why the Catholic Church has
remained cautious and on guard towards free market economics
for more than a hundred years, and why we think it is time to
re-emphasise in our society the concept of the common good.
It provides the criteria by which public authorities can
distinguish between those economic activities that can safely
be left to market forces, and those that require regulation,
state intervention, or full provision by the public sector.
The dividing line will be different at different periods.
But Catholic Social Teaching, while it recognises that there
are at times merits in the market principle, resists the
conclusion that that principle should be extended wherever
possible. It is always the business of public authority to
arbitrate between the sometimes conflicting demands of a
market economy and the common good.
82. Public authorities must maintain a critical distance from
an ideological view that free markets can do no wrong. The
concept of competition implies that there will be failures
as well as successes, and under market conditions early signs
of failure may cause more rapid collapse. Therefore, where
such social provisions as health and education are concerned,
the common good requires a supervising authority that can step
in with remedies as soon as deficiencies become apparent,
rather than waiting until the logic of the market causes
failing institutions to close, harming those who must still
rely on them. There are, of course, circumstances in which,
after due consideration, deliberate closure and the making of
alternative arrangements will serve the common good.
83. Furthermore social services in general need other
incentives than pure profit, and the introduction of market
forces in this area has sometimes demeaned or damaged the
sense of vocation and dedication to others that has
traditionally been a hallmark of the professions involved.
The ethos of public service, in the public sector and
especially in local and national government, is an important
public asset that must be safeguarded by every possible
means.
84. The search for profit must not be allowed to override all
other moral considerations. For instance the creation and
stimulation of markets by advertising is in danger of
producing a society where the satisfaction of real or
artificial needs takes priority over all else. It leads to
an ideology of consumerism. The individual is reduced to the
status of an isolated economic agent, whose life has meaning
only as a consumer.
85. Those most likely to suffer from over-reliance on
competition to the detriment of the common good are the
poor, vulnerable, powerless and defenceless. To promote
the idea that the individual is primarily to be considered
by society as a consumer - that is to say when an individual's
greatest significance is as a possessor of wealth and purchaser
of goods and services - is both contrary to the Gospel and to
any rational idea of what a human being really is. It gravely
disadvantages those who do not have wealth to spend. Unlimited
free markets tend to produce what is in effect an 'option
against the poor'.
The mass media
86. The mass media have a particular responsibility, which needs
redefining in this context. While Britain continues to enjoy
standards of broadcasting which are rightly admired elsewhere,
those standards cannot be taken for granted. There is, for
instance, a constant drift towards more screen violence, greater
use of obscene language and ever more explicit depictions of
intimate sexual activity. It cannot be argued that broadcasters
are merely responding to changes in public taste, as they play
a major part in shaping that taste.
87. We must point out that it is always easier to drive taste
in these matters downwards rather than upwards. Each step is a
small one, by itself. If nobody takes responsibility for each
incremental movement, however, the eventual result will be the
decay of public standards of decency to the point where they
no longer exist, yet without at any time a deliberate decision
having been made by society that this is what it wants. This is
one more domain where a large number of individual consumer
choices, exercised under the supposed sovereignty of free market
forces, can have a markedly deleterious effect on the common
good.
88. This is even more the case in the domain of newspapers.
There seems to be a decline in regard for the common good in
this industry, and an assumption that 'giving readers what
readers want' is more often than not the only justification
necessary for publication. Proprietors and editors, answerable
to nobody, have never had more editorial skill and talent
available to them, but never have they used them to such poor
moral advantage.
89. Journalists and their editors need constant reminding of
the requirement to separate the reporting of fact from the
presentation of speculation and comment, the need for
fairness in handling allegations damaging to individuals,
and above all of a general sense of moral responsibility
for the good of society. But moral responsibility does not
always sell newspapers. We are concerned about the dangerous
consequences for the common good when market forces in the
mass media are pushed to their logical conclusion, a process
of which we see some evidence. Contrary to the optimistic
expectations of the beneficial fruits of competition that
were made by Adam Smith, there are signs that it is a
characteristic principle of newspaper economics that bad
journalism will drive out good.
The world of work
90. Work is more than a way of making a living: it is a
vocation, a participation in God's creative activity. Work
increases the common good. The creation of wealth by productive
action is blessed by God and praised by the Church, as both
a right and a duty. When properly organised and respectful
of the humanity of the worker, it is also a source of
fulfilment and satisfaction. At best, workers should love
the work they do. The treatment of workers must avoid
systematically denying them that supreme measure of
satisfaction. We would oppose an unduly negative view of
work even from a Christian perspective, which would regard
it purely as a burden of drudgery; or even worse, a curse
consequent upon the Fall. On the contrary, even before the
Fall human work was the primary means whereby humanity was
to co-operate with and continue the work of the Creator,
by responding to God's invitation to 'subdue the
earth'.
91. Workers have rights which Catholic teaching has consistently
maintained are superior to the rights of capital. These include
the right to decent work, to just wages, to security of employment,
to adequate rest and holidays, to limitation of hours of work,
to health and safety protection, to non-discrimination, to form
and join trade unions, and, as a last resort, to go on strike.
The Catholic Church has always deplored the treatment of employment
as nothing more than a form of commercial contract. This leads to
a sense of alienation between a worker and his or her labour.
Instead, forms of employment should stress the integration of work
and worker, and encourage the application of creative
skills.
92. The Church insists that an employed person is a full human being,
not a commodity to be bought and sold according to market requirements.
Recognition of the humanity of the employee should persuade managements
to bring their workforce into creative partnership, and to regard
employees as entitled to a fair share in any rewards as a result of
increased profits. Profits should not be regarded as solely of interest
to managers or shareholders, but as a source of a social dividend in which
others have a right to benefit. The Church recognises that co-ownership
and worker shareholding schemes can sometimes offer more human ways of
running business and industry than the traditional sharp separation of
employees from employers.
93. The Church's social teaching has always deplored an 'us and them'
attitude between managers and workforce. Industrial relations should
not be organised in a way that fosters such confrontational attitudes.
On the one hand, it is possible for employers to be unfairly
disadvantaged by an imbalance in the relative economic strength of each
side in negotiation, for instance when a trade union exploits a monopoly
control of the supply of labour. On the other hand, trade union activity
is sometimes a necessary corrective to managerial policies which are
devoted purely to profit, regardless of the interests of workers. There
can be a substantial imbalance of economic power between an isolated
individual employee and a large employer, and this imbalance is not
corrected merely by the fact that the employee has entered into a
contract. Contracts between unequal parties are a potent source of
structural injustice.
94. Trade unions have a role in correcting this imbalance, and membership
of a union is a right the Church upholds as a manifestation of the
principle of solidarity and of the right of association. The Catholic
Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has reminded Catholics that
where possible they should join an appropriate trade union. We do not
think the decline in union membership in recent years is necessarily a
healthy sign, and we note that it is paralleled by a high degree of
dissatisfaction with their working lives that many ordinary people
express. We must repeat, however, the consistent warnings given in
Catholic Social Teaching against trade unions being too closely
associated with political parties.
95. Employers are not entitled to negate the right to join a trade
union by refusing to have any dealings with union representatives.
Where a majority of employees in a particular work group opt to be
represented by their union for collective bargaining, it is
unreasonable of an employer to refuse that demand. In certain
circumstances the law may have to intervene to protect these
rights.
96. At the same time, unions which are granted legal protection
or a special legal status have a duty to conduct their affairs
in accordance with the common good. Workers contemplating a strike
have a duty to take account of the likely effects of their action
on other groups, whether workers, users or consumers. It is unfair
for those taking part in an industrial dispute to use the inflicting
of hardship or serious inconvenience on such third parties as
deliberate tactics. Their dispute is with their employer, not the
public. They must also take a responsible view of the profitability
and financial viability of their employer.
97. Employers, meanwhile, have a duty to pay a just wage, the level
of which should take account of the needs of the individual and not
just his or her value on the so-called labour market. If employers
do not do this voluntarily, Catholic Social Teaching would allow the
State to make them do so by means of a statutory minimum wage, either
nationally or in some sectors. It is not morally acceptable to seek
to reduce unemployment by letting wages fall below the level at which
employees can sustain a decent standard of living.
98. Employers who pay only the level of wage that the labour market
demands, however low, are avoiding their moral responsibilities for
the welfare of their employees. Where wages do fall below the level
necessary for maintaining an appropriate standard of living, the state
may step in. Nevertheless Catholic Social Teaching, in the light of
the principle of subsidiarity, does not regard State welfare provision
as a desirable substitute for payment of a just wage. Nor is this an
acceptable excuse for employers to pay inadequate wages, thereby
adding a further burden to the taxpayer. It is much to be preferred
that employers should understand their duties to their employees
correctly, so that they should want to pay a just wage regardless of
whether they are obliged by law to do so. This is not of course to
disparage social benefits to support family life for those in employment
as well as for those unemployed.
Europe
99. The Church's social teaching also applies internationally. One of
the most important issues facing this country is its future relationship
with the rest of Europe - and not just with the European Union. The
history of the whole continent is intimately tied up with the history
of Christianity. Although all European states are pluralist societies,
the churches still have a crucial role in safeguarding and promoting
the moral and spiritual values which gave Europe its soul. Those
values, which Christians share with other faiths, are essential if the
continent is to regain its moral health and spiritual vitality.
100. Solidarity and subsidiarity are two principles which should govern
relations between individual states and the wider international community.
Solidarity is expressed at many levels - family, neighbourhood, region,
nation, the continent itself, and the whole planet. Local loyalties and
commitments are important and should be fostered, but they should not be
set in opposition to these wider expressions of solidarity. It is possible
to be both British and European.
101. The principle of subsidiarity applies particularly to Britain's
relations with the European Union, especially the extent to which social,
financial and monetary decisions ought to be made at European Union level
or national level, or devolved further to regional or local assemblies.
There may well be legitimate differences over which arrangements are most
likely to respect the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, and
promote the European common good. But those principles cannot be set
aside in this current debate.
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The global common good
102. In an increasingly global society, the unit of human community to
which the term 'common good' applies moves from the national to the
international level. Hence solidarity has an inescapable universal
dimension. Solidarity requires action to protect the common good at
this level, where it can only be safeguarded by the collaboration of
all. The universal common good is violated if there are places anywhere
in the world where basic needs like clean water, food, shelter, health
care, education and livelihood are not available to all or if the
rights and dignity of all are not respected. The concept of an
international or global common good demands that no nation should be
left incapable of participation in the global economy because it is
too poor or too much in debt.
103. The Catholic Church has repeatedly emphasised that an international
economic order that condemns large sections of the world population to a
permanent state of abject poverty is grossly unjust. Yet in recent years
there has been a steady decline in overseas development assistance from
the wealthier to the poorer countries. Some aid flows have been dissipated
through corruption or civil strife, but there has also been a retreat from
solidarity between richer and poorer societies. This must be resisted.
Catholic Social Teaching affirms the vital role of overseas aid which is
properly managed and effectively targeted, to enable the poor to participate
in grassroots development. We recall that the Bishops' Conference of England
and Wales has urged successive governments to work towards the long-standing
United Nations target for overseas aid of 0.7 per cent of Gross National
Product.
104. The debt burden is a major factor in perpetuating poverty. Development
has been halted and reversed by the debt service obligations of some of the
poorest countries to their foreign creditors. Fortunately, most of those
responsible for managing the international economic system have realised the
ultimate futility of forcing repayment of unpayable debt as the price of
continuing international assistance. We would encourage public opinion to
support the British government in maintaining a leading role in resolving
the international debt crisis. Without a comprehensive solution, the necessary
conditions for aid, trade and investment for poor countries are missing. The
major industrial countries and the international institutions they largely
control need to act in solidarity with the poorer countries to achieve an
outcome based on justice.
105. The Church has consistently warned of the dangers of too great a
reliance on free market principles alone in economic relations between
very unequal international partners. Under free trade the strong compete
with the weak, the developed with the underdeveloped. International
co-operation and regulation are needed to protect weak and vulnerable
countries in their transition to full participation in the global economy.
Solidarity of the human family will also require the developed world to
restrict the promotion of arms sales to poor countries, to open further
their own markets to the products of the developing world, actively to
support the establishment of appropriate regional security structures,
and to refrain from imposing harsh economic adjustment programmes on the
poorest countries which curtail essential social expenditure on health
and education, especially for women.
The environmental common good
106. The Church recognises that care for the environment is part of care
for the common good - the environment is one of the 'common goods' which
are the shared responsibility of the human race. We have to reject some
of the easy assumptions of an earlier stage of industrialisation, such as
that the human race, because God had given it dominion over the world,
had an unlimited freedom to despoil the natural environment for its own
purposes. Those who feel moved to a loving care for the internal balances
of nature are responding to a deep religious instinct implanted within
them by God. Their intuition tells them that the human race takes its place
on this planet as a gift and privilege, and needs to cultivate what the
new Catechism of the Catholic Church calls a "religious respect for
the integrity of creation"(paragraph 2415).
107. Our environmental 'common goods' are not only available for careful
use and enjoyment today, but are held in trust for the use and enjoyment
of future generations. Public authorities must never treat them as having
no intrinsic worth, nor commercial concerns see them merely as sources of
profit or loss. Regarded in those terms, the environment is a great
repository of natural wealth, belonging to all humanity, present and future,
freely and equally. Because of this environmental mortgage that the future
holds over the present, none of this natural wealth can be owned outright,
as if nobody but the owner had any say in its disposal. Each generation
takes the natural environment on loan, and must return it after use in as
good or better condition as when it was first borrowed.
108. In recent years one of the prime duties of public authorities has
become the careful conservation of this environmental dimension of the
'common good'. Damage to the environment is no respecter of frontiers,
and damage done by one generation has the capacity to damage future
generations: these are among the most powerful reasons for desiring the
creation of effective global authorities responsible for the common good
at international level.
Ownership and property
109. The ownership of wealth is a right the Church protects, and regards
as an essential ingredient and safeguard of human freedom. Measures designed
to increase the spread of ownership are desirable, subject to the common
good. But the ownership is governed by a 'social mortgage', and past abuses
of the ownership of wealth have led Catholic Social Teaching to accept
significant restrictions on the rights of wealth owners.
110. On the other hand we note with approval the greatly increased
distribution of ownership of capital assets in Britain, through investment
trusts, pension funds, insurance companies and the like. This has given a
much larger share of the population an indirect stake in the profitability
of companies in the private sector. It is no longer a feature of the British
economy that the means for the production of wealth are largely concentrated
in the hands of a few. However, this does not absolve institutional investors
from all responsibility for the way their shareholdings are used. It cannot
be right that all the moral responsibilities of ownership are ended when
ownership is channelled through shareholding, nor can it be right that the
managers of such shareholdings should feel their only obligation to the owners
is to maximise their returns, within the limits set by law. Both managers and
shareholders have a social responsibility, which the law in Britain needs to
recognise.
111. The economy exists for the human person, not the other way round. Any
economic enterprise has a range of 'stakeholders': shareholders, suppliers,
managers, workers, consumers, the local community, even the natural
environment. None of these interests should prevail to the extent that it
excludes the interests of the others. A manager in one enterprise may be
the consumer of the products of another, the neighbour of a third, the
supplier of a fourth, a shareholder in a fifth; and may subsequently become
a redundant ex-employee, the victim of the very policies that as a manager
he or she may have helped to create.
112. Employers need reminding that their employees as a body constitute a
form of 'social capital', a reservoir of human effort, wisdom and experience.
Accountancy methods which have to disregard such assets in the valuation of a
commercial concern or in drawing up a balance sheet are inevitably guilty of
false accounting, for they fail to make visible the resources of human skill
and judgement which that company has at its disposal. This dumping of human
'social capital', which the Catholic Church must deplore, is a prevalent
cause of social injustice in modern society. It often occurs in company
'downsizing' operations associated with takeovers, closures and
mergers.
Crisis in the social dimension
113. The British people are not alone in facing the problems to which we have
drawn attention. But they should beware of the tendency, which seems more
marked in Britain than elsewhere, to look to the future not for solutions
but for more problems. To reduce this tendency to a partisan debate about
whether or not the so-called "feel-good" factor is returning, and to reduce
that question in turn to one of purely economic expectations, is to fail to
see that the nation's real crisis is not economic, but moral and
spiritual.
114. This crisis concerns loss of individual belief and confusion over
personal moral behaviour. But the social dimension is no less in crisis.
Surveys and studies of the national mood display a nation ill at ease
with itself. Such surveys tell us that the British do not look forward
to their society becoming fairer or more peaceful. They no longer expect
security, either in employment or in personal relationships. They accept
fatefully but without enthusiasm the prospect of their lives being
increasingly dominated by impersonal economic forces which leave little
room for morality. They seem to be losing faith in the possibility of a
better future.
115. As a result of this loss of confidence in the public arena, people
seek space for personal fulfilment by turning increasingly to their private
world. There is a retreat from the public level of community involvement to
the domestic and individual sphere. This process of privatisation may well
throw more weight than it can bear upon a fragile personal relationship,
often a marriage relationship. Thus the very place where satisfaction and
security is sought becomes the place where it is less likely to be
obtainable.
116. The British have always had a feeling for 'the common good' even if
they have not expressed it in those terms. They are no longer sure that
that principle can be relied upon. They hear it questioned in theory and
ignored in practice. It increasingly appears to be an illusion. This loss
of confidence in the concept of the common good is one of the primary
factors behind the national mood of pessimism. It betrays a weakening of
the sense of mutual responsibility and a decline in the spirit of solidarity
- the crumbling of the cement that binds individuals into a society. The
prospect of the new Millennium just ahead has so far failed to stir the
national imagination to a new sense of vision and purpose, precisely for
these reasons. We view with particular concern the danger that our young
people will turn their backs on the political process because they see it
as selfish, empty and corrupt. At the same time young people often show
remarkable generosity and commitment to particular causes. It is important
that they be encouraged to build on that generosity and see that the good
of society as a whole deserves their commitment and idealism.
117. We believe the principles we have outlined in this document are the
necessary minimum conditions for a fair and prosperous society. A society
without those conditions will show many of the symptoms which are present
in British society now. The present Pope, in his encyclical Redemptor
Hominis (1979), made this comment on the present stage of history:
"If therefore our time, the time of our generation, the time that is
approaching the end of the second millennium of the Christian era, shows
itself to be a time of great progress, it is also seen as a time of threat
to humanity in many forms. The Church must speak of this threat to all
people of goodwill and must always carry on a dialogue with them about it.
Humanity's situation in the modern world seems indeed to be far removed
from the objective demands of the moral order, from the requirements of
justice, and even more of social love"(paragraph 16).
118. Pope John Paul goes on to speak of the eloquent teaching of the Second
Vatican Council concerning humanity's sharing in the kingship of Christ,
and adds: "The essential meaning of this 'kingship' and 'dominion'
of man over the visible world, which the Creator himself gave man for his
task, consists in the priority of ethics over technology, in the primacy
of the person over things, and the superiority of spirit over matter."
We believe that it is in the growing priority of technology over ethics,
in the growing primacy of things over persons, and in the growing superiority
of matter over spirit, that the most serious threats to British society
now lie.
119. For these threats to be resisted, the political arena has to be
reclaimed in the name of the common good. Public life needs rescuing from
utilitarian expediency and the pursuit of self-interest. Society must not
turn its back on poor people nor on the stranger at the gate. The twin
principles of solidarity and subsidiarity need to be applied systematically
to the reform of the institutions of public life. The protection of human
rights must be reinforced, the mechanisms of democracy repaired, the
integrity of the environment defended. The common good must be made to
prevail, even against strong economic forces that would deny it.
120. The Catholic Church knows from its social teaching that all this
is possible, and that no social trend, however negative, is beyond
reversal. We urge the Catholic people of England and Wales to take
up the challenge of applying to our society all the principles of
Catholic Social Teaching that we have outlined, and thus to advance
the common good in collaboration with likeminded citizens of every
political and religious allegiance.
- Statement of the Catholic Bishops' Conference
of England and Wales
October 1996
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