Fr. Raymond de Souza wrote an insightful review of Caritas in Veritate. He argues that in this encyclical Pope Benedict proposes that charity, not justice or prudence, should be the characteristic virtue in economic life:
Is economic life intended to make us brothers, or is that asking too much? Benedict makes his claim here that it is not too much to ask. Charity is essential so that our treatment of each other is not limited to mere contractual obligations, but to the real flourishing of others.
This is a bold development, to say that economic life should be characterized by charity — a theological virtue — rather than the humbler natural virtues of justice and prudence. Caritas in Veritate understands that existing economic language and concepts don’t really express this, so develops a new principle.
The underlying principle — replacing justice with charity as the principal motivation of economics — is articulated as the “principle of gratuitousness” and the “logic of the gift.” “Gratuitousness” and “gift” encourage people to think not of their interest, but of service. So Benedict argues that labor unions should think not of their own members alone, but of the good of even foreign workers who might compete with union labor.
Comments