Catholic Social Teaching on Building a Just Society: The Need for a Ceiling and a Floor

Religions

Kenneth Himes¹ 

[1] Department of Theology, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA;

关键词: economic inequality;    Catholic social teaching;    John Ryan;    living wage;    Gaudium et spes;    communitarianism;    relative equality;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rel8040049

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Msg. John A. Ryan was the leading voice for economic justice among American Catholics in the first half of the twentieth century. Although he was a champion of the proposal for a living wage to establish a minimum floor below which no worker might fall, Ryan gave little attention to whether there ought to be a ceiling to limit wealth among concentrated elites. I believe Ryan’s natural law methodology hindered a fuller vision of economic justice when addressing inequality. Contemporary Catholic social teaching, shaped by documents like Vatican II’s Gaudium et spes, has formulated a communitarian approach to justice that deals more adequately with the dangers of vast economic disparities. The essay concludes with a few ideas regarding how the post-conciliar outlook assists in rectifying the growing trend of economic inequality within American society.

【 授权许可】

Unknown