Washington D.C., Sep 2, 2019 / 02:43 am
The head of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development called on Catholics to reflect this Labor Day on Catholic Social Teaching and its implications for building a more just economy.
In the Christian view, "workers and owners both have rights and duties towards each other; a business enterprise must view itself as a 'society of persons' rather than a mere commercial instrument," said Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice in a statement dated Sept. 2.
The bishop called for an economy that values the human person and the dignity of work over the profit and capital. He emphasized that Catholic social teaching does not hold a "just wage" to be merely synonymous with a free market wage.
"Today's economy, if measured by the stock market, has the most money and wealth it has ever had, and unemployment is around the lowest it has been in fifty years," he said.