Pope Leo XIV, the newly elected leader of the Catholic Church, faces many challenges in applying Catholic social doctrine to solving today’s problems such as the growing wealth, income and power gap in every nation; widespread poverty; destruction of the environment; conflict-driven immigration; growth of State power; the decay of families, and many others.
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| Leo XIV |
His greatest challenge, however, may be overcoming a prevailing ignorance or misunderstanding of the principles of personalism and economic personalism. Especially critical is promoting understanding of private property as a fundamental human right, and how universal and equal access to future capital ownership opportunities would make possible lasting, systemic solutions to these problems.
The reason the popes have made private property in capital the centerpiece of Catholic social doctrine is that a person’s “social identity” — and thus dignity — depends on having power, and power follows property. As Fulton Sheen noted in his 1940 book, Freedom Under God, “Because the ownership of external things is the sign of freedom, the Church has made the wide distribution of private property the cornerstone of her social program.” (Fulton J. Sheen, Freedom Under God. Arlington, Virginia: Economic Justice Media, 2013, 33.)
And what are the results of “freedom under God” achieved through widespread capital ownership? As Pope Leo XIII declared in 1891,
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| Leo XIII |
Many excellent results will follow from this; and, first of all, property will certainly become more equitably divided. . . . If working people can be encouraged to look forward to obtaining a share in the land, the consequence will be that the gulf between vast wealth and sheer poverty will be bridged over, and the respective classes will be brought nearer to one another. A further consequence will result in the great abundance of the fruits of the earth. Men always work harder and more readily when they work on that which belongs to them; nay, they learn to love the very soil that yields in response to the labor of their hands, not only food to eat, but an abundance of good things for themselves and those that are dear to them. That such a spirit of willing labor would add to the produce of the earth and to the wealth of the community is self-evident. And a third advantage would spring from this: men would cling to the country in which they were born, for no one would exchange his country for a foreign land if his own afforded him the means of living a decent and happy life. These three important benefits, however, can be reckoned on only provided that a man's means be not drained and exhausted by excessive taxation. The right to possess private property is derived from nature, not from man; and the State has the right to control its use in the interests of the public good alone, but by no means to absorb it altogether. The State would therefore be unjust and cruel if under the name of taxation it were to deprive the private owner of more than is fair. (Rerum Novarum, § 47.)
As far as Leo XIII was concerned, then, a program like an Economic Democracy Act would provide solutions to most of the problems Leo XIV faces:
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| Fulton Sheen |
· The Wealth and Income Gap. “[T]he gulf between vast wealth and sheer poverty will be bridged over, and the respective classes will be brought nearer to one another.”
· Widespread Poverty. “[This] will result in the great abundance of the fruits of the earth.”
· Destruction of the Environment. “Men always work harder and more readily when they work on that which belongs to them; nay, they learn to love the very soil that yields in response to the labor of their hands.”
· Conflict-Driven Immigration. “[M]en would cling to the country in which they were born, for no one would exchange his country for a foreign land if his own afforded him the means of living a decent and happy life.”
· Excessive State Power and the Decay of Families. “The right to possess private property is derived from nature, not from man; and the State has the right to control its use in the interests of the public good alone, but by no means to absorb it altogether. The State would therefore be unjust and cruel if under the name of taxation it were to deprive the private owner of more than is fair.”
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| Aristotle |
The empowering message of the Just Third Way of economic personalism, accompanied by the realistic possibilities for enabling every person to become an economically liberated owner of capital, could assist Leo XIV in his pontificate. Demonstrating the Church presents moral, clear, practical, and relevant guidelines for living what Aristotle called “the good life” of virtue, may convince many who feel they have been driven out or ignored to return.
Frankly, there is both a widespread misunderstanding of Catholic social teaching even or especially among Catholics, and a great need for clarification of what is meant by economic justice, and personalism, concepts which are not religious and apply to everyone, regardless of faith, philosophy, or lack thereof. This has become critical as it relates to the dignity and empowerment of each person within the globalized and high-tech economies of the twenty-first century. It would therefore be appropriate and timely, we believe, for Leo XIV to consider an encyclical to explain economic personalism and teach the principles of economic justice.
Such an encyclical would help guide people everywhere in the challenge of redesigning their basic economic policies and institutions — especially monetary, financial, and tax systems that are today widening the gap between the richest few and the majority of humanity. The goal would be to extend universal and equal capital ownership opportunities in the future without harming property rights of existing owners — to lift up the 99% without pulling down the 1%.
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| Leo XIV |
The primary focus of such an encyclical would be the economic empowerment and full development of every person based on the three principles of economic justice: 1) participative justice, 2) distributive justice, and 3) social justice. To clarify further, the encyclical might explain fundamental principles of natural law, the difference between principle (doctrine) and application of principle (discipline), and the reconciliation of individual ethics and social ethics by means of the act of social justice. Ultimately, the goal of such an encyclical would be to persuade people that economic personalism, once understood and applied, has the potential to make the world work for the benefit of everyone.
Such an encyclical could be followed up with an interfaith conference, and then by a series of interdisciplinary conferences, that explore how best to implement economic personalism throughout the world. Religious and spiritual leaders, scholars, policymakers, business people, bankers, labor leaders, environmentalists, social activists, and young people would examine and discuss the personalist principles for reforming the global financial system and establishing just and inclusive market economies.
The goal would be to provide every child, woman, and man in the world with equal access to the means to become capital owners. In this way Leo XIV, as a global teacher, communicator and servant-leader, could catalyze unified action to build a Culture of Life that respects the dignity, empowerment and freedom of every human being.
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