Pope’s Encyclical Warns Against Greed-Fed Gains

Pope John Paul II on Thursday issued an encyclical on social problems in light of Marxism’s collapse in Europe. It was praised by the president of the U.S. bishops, Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk, as “a powerful restatement of the church’s social doctrine.”

Here are two excerpts from the document:

Business: The purpose of a business firm is not simply to make a profit, but it is to be found in its very essence as a community of persons, who in various ways are endeavoring to satisfy their basic needs, and who form a particular group at the service of the whole of society. Profit is a regulator of the life of a business, but it is not the only one. Other human and moral factors must also be considered which, in the long term, are at least equally important for the life of a business.

Consumerism: It is not wrong to want to live better; what is wrong is a style of life which is presumed to be better when it is directed towards “having” rather than “being,” and which wants to have more, not in order to be more but in order to spend life in enjoyment as an end in itself. It is therefore necessary to create lifestyles in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments.