Thoughts on Responding to Magnifica Humanitas

There has been a good deal of discussion and analysis done on Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical.  This is, of course, only to be expected, as are the usual comments about the true aims and goals of the Catholic Church’s social encyclicals.  Consequently, everyone talks about what is in them, but not what they are, and especially not what social justice is or how to understand it.

Making Sense of Social Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

MAKING SENSE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

A Guide to Understanding Magnifica Humanitas is Now Available in Spanish

 

(Arlington, Virginia, USA, May 15, 2026) Justice University Press, an imprint of the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ), a think tank promoting a free market, private property-based approach to widespread capital ownership without redistribution, is pleased to announce the release of Personalismo Económico: Propiedad, Poder y Justicia para Cada Persona (ISBN: 978-1-60210-011-4), a book applying the personalist thought of Pope John Paul II. Translated into Spanish by Dr. María Teresa Rosón de Pérez Lozano of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina in Buenos Aires, Personalismo Económico makes Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person (2020) by Michael D. Greaney and Dawn K. Brohawn available to a new audience.

A short but substantive work, Personalismo Económico presents a summary of natural law moral principles and sound methods of finance designed to establish and maintain economic justice for all. In English or in Spanish, Personalismo Económico is an essential orientation to understand and advance the message of Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical for people of all faiths and philosophies everywhere.

Dar Sentido a la Justicia Social

PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA

DAR SENTIDO A LA JUSTICIA SOCIAL

Una guía para comprender Magnifica Humanitas ya está disponible en español

 

(Arlington, Virginia, EE. UU., 15 de mayo de 2026) Justice University Press, una editorial del Centro para la Justicia Económica y Social (CESJ), un grupo de expertos que promueve un enfoque de libre mercado basado en la propiedad privada para una propiedad generalizada del capital sin redistribución, se complace en anunciar el lanzamiento de Personalismo Económico: Propiedad, Poder y Justicia para Cada Persona (ISBN: 978-1-60210-011-4), un libro que aplica el pensamiento personalista del Papa Juan Pablo II. Traducido al español por la Dra. María Teresa Rosón de Pérez Lozano de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Argentina en Buenos Aires, Personalismo Económico pone a disposición de una nueva audiencia Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person (2020) de Michael D. Greaney y Dawn K. Brohawn.

Una obra breve pero sustantiva, Personalismo Económico presenta un resumen de los principios morales de la ley natural y métodos sólidos de finanzas diseñados para establecer y mantener la justicia económica para todos. En inglés o en español, Personalismo Económico es una orientación esencial para comprender y promover el mensaje de la nueva encíclica del Papa León XIV para personas de todas las religiones y filosofías en todo el mundo.

A New Encyclical . . . So What?

Word on the street is Pope Leo XIV is issuing a new “encyclical” on May 15, 2026.  The document, provisionally titled Magnifica Humanitas (hmmm . . .) is expected to be a follow-up on Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 effort, Rerum Novarum, “On Labor and Capital,” which some (erroneously, if it matters) consider the first “social encyclical.”

The Monster from SpaceX

No, this is not the title of a 1950’s low-budget sci-fi flick.  Nor is it a cheap commercial from the, er, 1950s comparing what someone is advertising with “Brand X.”  No, it’s just some commentary about the proposed IPO — that’s “Initial Public Offering” for those of us not up on the lingo of financial markets — of “SpaceX” for “Space Exploration Technologies Corporation,” the rather unimaginatively named private American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company.

Some Thoughts for the Present and Future

 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.

Dignity, Sovereignty, Faith, and Reason

In today’s posting, we’re taking a look at some basic principles of the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism.  As we understand it, the Just Third Way begins and ends with the dignity and sovereignty of the human person. Any plan, program, activity, or thought contrary to or which undermines the dignity or sovereignty of the human person must be rejected or reformed to the point where it either enhances human dignity or at least does no material harm.

Personalism and Justice

Recently we got an enquiry regarding a misunderstanding about our use of the term “Economic Personalism” and some potential confusion with the virtue of justice.  Someone (Person A) had expressed disagreement with our using the term Economic Personalism to describe a type of economic democracy and then asked if we were trying to change the name of the Center for Economic and Social Justice to the Center for Economic Personalism.  Quick answer: No.

With Eggroll, You Get Six

According to CNN, President Trump’s White House — or, as we are coming to know it, “the Business Administration” — is seeking corporate sponsorships for the annual Easter Egg Roll.  This is a tradition initiated by Dolley Madison in 1814 and reinstated in 1878, under the otherwise unpopular Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes.

Which Version of Democracy?

For years we have been talking about the need for the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) as what we believe has the best chance not merely to offer everyone in the world (at least potentially) a decent material life (and thus the foundation for becoming more fully human and fulfilling one’s potential), but to resolve some extremely pressing problems in the political, social, and domestic realms.  This, of course, raises the question as to what we mean by “Economic Democracy” . . . which in turn leads to the question as to what we mean by “democracy.”

Fulton Sheen, Social Justice, Solidarism, and Economic Personalism

There has been a spate of memes in the social media recently ostensibly quoting the late Fulton Sheen to the effect that Judas is the patron saint of social justice.  This does not ring true for a couple of reasons. Most obviously, Sheen, “the American Chesterton,” was a master of language and witty repartee, skilled at making an otherwise subtle nuance plain, albeit in a clever manner.  The statement is just too crude and blunt; it is not Sheen’s style.

Trump’s Rising Tide

Time and the tide wait for no man.  Neither are they subject to the command of a man.

Before it became politically incorrect to suggest a ruler might not be all-powerful or the State might not be a “Mortall God” à la Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, every schoolchild knew the story of King Chanute and the ocean.  Or maybe it was King Canute.  Or it could have been Cnut.  Or Knut.  Or Knute.  No need to come to wreck on this Rockne.

Why It’s Not Distributism

A little backstory.  A few years ago, we were asked to prepare an explanation of what we mean by “the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism.”  Even though we are an interfaith group, the request came from an official at the Vatican (not the pope or anyone you know).  We wrote the explanation based on universal principles of natural law applicable to all “natural” faiths and philosophies (mostly based on or compatible with Aristotelian philosophy).

Why “Binary”?

Occasionally, someone thinks he (or she) has come up with a brilliant criticism of the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism by pointing out “binary economics” is not a good way of describing the ideas of Louis O. Kelso which form the primary economic theory of the Just Third Way.  The critic takes a brief look and sees Kelso divided the factors of production into labor and capital instead of labor, land, and capital, and assumes it is the whole of Kelso’s thought, which is ultra-simplistic.

A Rational Approach to Taxation, Part I

Reportedly, vice presidential candidate Tim Walz “created ‘the most progressive tax system in the country’ for Minnesota.”  Pundits believe this will help Kamala Harris in her tax proposals.  It will probably do that . . . but are Harris’s tax proposals what is needed?  Come to think of it, are Trump’s tax proposals any better?

Vladimir Putin, Keynesian

In his General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936) John Maynard Keynes made some astonishing, even bizarre statements, many of which boggle the imagination.  We have addressed a few of them on this blog, and if this were an “anti-Keynesian” venue instead of a “pro-Economic Personalism” platform, we would have enough to keep us going for quite some time, years, in fact.

Total Financial Mobilization

In defense of Ukraine, money and credit are as crucial as guns and ammunition. A robust economy with widespread purchasing power is vital for both national prosperity and security. A solid financial system and sustainable growth are necessary in peacetime and wartime alike.

Central Bank Funding, II: Traditional Solutions to the Twin Threats

Today’s posting is the second half of “Central Bank Funding of Economic Growth and Economic Justice Through Expanded Capital Ownership” By Norman A. Bailey, Ph.D., presented at the Capital Ownership Group Conference on Globalization, Four Points Sheraton Hotel, Washington, D.C., October 9-11, 2002.

The first half of this article,“The Twin Threats,” can be found here.

Central Bank Funding, I: The Twin Threats

Today’s posting is the first half of “Central Bank Funding of Economic Growth and Economic Justice Through Expanded Capital Ownership” By Norman A. Bailey, Ph.D., presented at the Capital Ownership Group Conference on Globalization, Four Points Sheraton Hotel, Washington, D.C., October 9-11, 2002.

Something Missing

Today’s blog posting is adapted from the book, Economic Personalism, which you can get free from the CESJ website, or from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

In response to the spread of socialism and the other “New Things,” Pope Pius IX, socialism and the other new things continued to spread.  Finally, in 1868 he convened the first ecumenical council since Trent in the sixteenth century.