Reviewing Papal Economics by Maciej Zieba, Michael P. Orsi surveys the economic philosophy of pontiffs through history up to recent times:
[Author Maciej] Zieba shows how John Paul II believed that democracy and capitalism were good for the human person. Having come out of a socialist state, the Pope recognized the dehumanizing effect that an un-free political system has on personal creativity and the creation of wealth. The Pope, he claims, in no way promoted a “third way” redistributionist economic system. He rather held to the “ordoliberal” principles, perfected in post-World-War II Germany. Ordoliberals maintain that the role of the state is to establish the rules for a real free market in which capitalism and free competition can cooperate for the common good. …
Yet John Paul was no libertarian, as Zieba explains: “The libertarian approach to the right of private property, through theoretically not an absolute right, is in practice free of social and moral obligations.” Instead, Catholic social teaching calls for the state to make available to all its citizens the bounty of the earth which may be attained through work. In Laborem Exercens, the Pope says humans express themselves in their work. In no way does the Pope call for a welfare state, but he does ask that governments help to provide opportunities for their citizens to earn a decent living. To this end he urges just laws, a fair economic system, sensitivity to and the protection of the rights of minorities, and aid for those who fall below the poverty level.
Meanwhile, the current Pope is doing his best to put his own house in order:
The pontiff may be ostentatiously cutting back, but not without a fight. The Catholic church has a long history of extravagance, and sometimes the old ways are slow to die. Though Pope Francis started off by setting new simple sartorial standards, when it comes to throwing out real estate the Vatican elite may prove more resistant. There is a story doing the Vatican gossip rounds of a cardinal turning up in a church to celebrate mass and being offered a splendid red cappa magna to wear. A cappa magna is the liturgical equivalent of an opera cape – all billowing watered silk and a train that would rival Princess Diana’s wedding dress. The cardinal refused, saying: “I sold mine after the second Vatican council, and gave the money to the poor.” The master of ceremonies gave the curt reply: “It’s a shame you didn’t sell one of your two villas, and give the proceeds from that to the poor.”
It may be just a story, but it expresses the feeling of double standards within the Vatican community over self-conscious economy. The current German row, perhaps a Vatican “duck house” moment, is worth considering in the context of the power play between the Vatican and the German wing of the Catholic church. The independent wealth of the German church comes from the state – it is tax funded. In 2012 the Catholic church in Germany took $7.1bn in tax revenue, from the country’s 23 million declared Catholics who by law pay 8-10% of their income to the church. The autocratic nature of the Vatican means that even if a bishop can clearly afford it, if it doesn’t wash with His Holiness’s vision you run the risk of being defrocked.
Previous Dish on Francis’s and Benedict’s views on economics here and here.
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