|
|
|
|
SPEAKING
FREELY
The pope's economic
ethics
By Mark Engler
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say. Please click here if you are
interested in contributing.
A
steady feature in the late pope John Paul II's
obituaries has been mention of his unwaveringly
conservative stances on issues such as abortion,
birth control, gay rights, and the ordination of
women. While these positions were sources of
consternation for many US Catholics, they far from
represent the whole of John Paul's ethical
beliefs. Particularly in his teachings about the
global economy, the pope advanced a vision of
social justice that challenges narrow political
debate about "moral values".
Many
commentators have highlighted the pope's extensive
travels throughout the world and his use of
advanced telecommunications to spread his message.
Less noted is the fact John Paul's vision of
globalization sharply countered the pro-corporate
triumphalism spread by "free trade" boosters.
Reflecting on the process of globalization during
his 1998 visit to Cuba, the pope contended that
the world is "witnessing the resurgence of a
certain capitalist neo-liberalism which
subordinates the human person to blind market
forces". He claimed, "From its centers of power,
such neo-liberalism often places unbearable
burdens upon less favored countries." And he
remarked with concern that "at times,
unsustainable economic programs are imposed on
nations as a condition for further assistance".
Coming at a moment when protests against
the type of "structural adjustment" mandated by
the US-dominated World Bank and International
Monetary Fund (IMF) were beginning to make
headlines, the targets of John Paul's condemnation
were not mysterious. Because of such economic
policies, the pope argued, we "see a small number
of countries growing exceedingly rich at the cost
of the increasing impoverishment of a great number
of other countries; as a result the wealthy grow
ever wealthier, while the poor grow ever poorer".
John Paul elaborated his arguments in his
1999 exhortation, Ecclesia in America.
There he asserted that the increasing global
integration of the current era presents an
opportunity for progress. "However," he warned,
"if globalization is ruled merely by the laws of
the market applied to suit the powerful, the
consequences cannot but be negative." He spoke out
against "unfair competition that puts poor nations
in a situation of ever increasing inferiority".
The pope's sentiments reflected the
church's wider understanding of political economy.
In a 2001 address to the Pontifical Academy of
Social Sciences, John Paul reiterated the faith's
teaching that "ethics demands that systems be
attuned to the needs of man, and not that man be
sacrificed for the sake of the system". Furthering
this idea, the pope insisted on "the inalienable
value of the human person" who "must always be an
end and not a means, a subject, not an object, not
a commodity of trade".
John Paul also
pointed toward an alternative to the vision of
market fundamentalism that is "based on a purely
economic conception of man" and "considers profit
and the law of the market as its only parameters".
He contended that "solidarity too must become
globalized". When he received members of the
European Automobile Manufacturers Association in
2001, he called for "ethical discernment aimed at
protecting the environment and promoting the full
human development of millions of men and women, in
a way that respects every individual's dignity and
makes room for personal creativity in the
workplace".
Most specifically, the pope
strongly supported the Jubilee 2000 coalition's
call for debt relief for developing countries. He
stated in 1998 that "the heavy burden of external
debt ... compromises the economies of whole
peoples and hinders their social and political
progress ... If the aim is globalization without
marginalization, we can no longer tolerate a world
in which there live side by side the immensely
rich and the miserably poor, the have-nots
deprived even of essentials and people who
thoughtlessly waste what others so desperately
need. Such contrasts are an affront to the dignity
of the human person."
The pope's economic
teachings were consistent with his views of
political life. John Paul is rightly remembered
for championing the democratic rights of people in
his native Poland and elsewhere behind the Iron
Curtain. Some US neo-conservatives have sought to
distort this legacy by presenting the pope as an
intellectual sidekick to the late president Ronald
Reagan. But John Paul's conception of democracy
was not one of unchecked individual rights.
Rather, he asserted that free citizens must have
"a firm and persevering determination to commit
[themselves] to the common good".
In this
regard, John Paul operated within the moral
precedent set in the Second Vatican Council's
statement on the Church in the modern world. Here
the Church argued that "the state has the duty to
prevent people from abusing their private property
to the detriment of the common good. By its
nature, private property has a social dimension
that is based on the law of the common destination
of earthly goods. Whenever the social aspect is
forgotten, ownership can often become the object
of greed and a source of serious disorder."
Many observers have speculated that the
next pope may be the first to come from the South
(see Looking South for a pope,
April 5). While sharing John Paul's social
conservatism, several of the most prominent
candidates from the developing world (including
Latin American Archbishops Jorge Mario Bergoglio
of Argentina, Oscar Andres Rodruguez Maradiaga of
Honduras and Claudio Hummes of Brazil) also hold
in common with the departed pontiff an outspoken
concern for global economic justice.
It is
far from certain that one of these candidates will
become the next pope. Nevertheless, John Paul's
economic ethics represent a legacy that will
continue as an important current within the Roman
Catholic Church - and that should give pause to
anyone who believes moral values are the exclusive
province of the right.
Mark
Engler, a writer based in New York City, is a
commentator for Foreign Policy In Focus. He can be
reached at engler@democracyuprising.com.
Research assistance for this article was
provided by Jason Rowe.
(Copyright
2005 Mark Engler.)
Speaking Freely
is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest
writers to have their say. Please click here if you are
interested in contributing. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
© Copyright 1999 - 2005 Asia Times
Online Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong
Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
|
|
|
