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Pope Francis and American Economics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2015

David Cloutier
David Cloutier*
Affiliation:
Mount St. Mary's University
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Abstract

Reaction among conservatives to Pope Francis' Evangelii Gaudium has most often been negative. Ross Douthat, however, in his 2013 New York Times op-ed, has offered a more nuanced critique. Our four Roundtable authors respond to Douthat's implied invitation to a discussion by responding from the viewpoint of Catholic social thought.

Keywords

Pope FrancisRoss Douthatconservatismcapitalismeconomics
Type
Theological Roundtable
Information
Horizons , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , June 2015 , pp. 122 - 128
Copyright
Copyright © College Theology Society 2015 

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References

1 Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium [EG], http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html, §53.

2 See, e.g., Fr. Robert Sirico of the Acton Institute, http://blog.acton.org/archives/64238-rev-sirico-pope-francis-without-politics.html, as well as worries about his “Marxism” or “Leninism,” http://www.religionnews.com/2014/06/24/economist-accuses-pope-francis-following-lenin/, or his Argentine “Peronism,” http://www.economist.com/news/international/21598677-how-modest-canny-man-approaching-complex-task-leading-roman-catholic.

3 Ross Douthat, “The Pope and the Right,” New York Times, November 30, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/opinion/sunday/douthat-the-pope-and-the-right.html.

4 Another prominent example of a conservative Catholic attempting to develop a more constructive response to Francis is First Things editor R. R. Reno. See his “Francis and the Market,” First Things, February 2014, http://www.firstthings.com/article/2014/02/francis-and-the-market.

5 David Cloutier, “Douthat on Francis and American Conservative Catholics,” http://catholicmoraltheology.com/douthat-on-francis-and-american-conservative-catholics/.

6 Woolcock, Michael, “Civil Society and Social Capital,” in The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society, ed. Edwards, Michael (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 197–208CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 198.

7 See Berry's, classic extended essay “Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community,” in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community: Eight Essays (New York: Pantheon, 1993), 117–74Google Scholar.

8 Aquinas, Thomas, Summa theologiae [ST] II–II, q. 47, a. 1, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (1948; Westminster, MD: Christian Classics, 1981)Google Scholar.

9 ST II–II, q. 47, a. 5.

10 ST II–II, q. 47, a. 11.

11 ST II–II, qq. 48–51.

12 Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, May 15, 1931, http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19310515_quadragesimo-anno.html, §46.

13 Pope John Paul II, Encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, December 30, 1987, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30121987_sollicitudo-rei-socialis.html, §41.

14 Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, June 29, 2009, http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate.html, §39.

15 See Médaille, John, The Vocation of Business (New York: Continuum, 2006)Google Scholar; and Médaille, , Toward a Truly Free Market (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 2010)Google Scholar.