The Church on Capitalism
By: Dr. Joseph Torma
“…the social economic system in unjust at its root.” -Evangelii Gaudium
These words of Pope Francis in reference to capitalism tell us that it is time again for the Catholic
Worker to theologically reflect on why capitalism, as a type of economics, is a practical heresy. It is a
continuation of our responsibility to : ”blow the dynamite: of Catholic social Teaching, as called for by
Peter Maurin in his first Easy Essay. Economics can be described simply as the science of how society
produces, distributes, and consumes goods and services.
Economically, society can be (and has been) structured into different ways. “Competitism “represents
the choice to structure society in a conflictive manner so as to provide for the elimination of the
weakest individuals and the survival of the fittest individuals upon whom the race would depend
(winners and losers). In contrast, “corporatism” represents a choice to fit all individuals into a society in
such a way that the strengths of each person should offset the weakness of others and thus acquire
survival.
The dictionary defines competition as “a rivalry between individuals or groups or nations; it arises
whenever two or more parties strive for something that all can not obtain.” Any system which
distributes resources or power this way reflects the competitist option. Capitalism does this, by
definition; “….in economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods…
and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a
free market.” Because a free market is unrestricted by government regulations on behalf of the
common good, it systematically produces winners and losers. In which case it would no longer be a
competitive system and therefore would not be capitalism.
In 1931 Pope Pius XI pointed out in Quadragesimo Anno that economic competition leads to the
concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, which ultimately results in war. T his is especially
important to remember when we encounter references to a market economy in the writings of recent
popes. In 1991 in Centesimus Annus, in defending his reference to “socialization” in his 1981
encyclical Laborem Exercens (On Human Work), Pope John Paul ** referred positively to a “market
economy.” However, he explicitly said he did not want to call it capitalism and praised “producers’,
consumers’ and credit cooperatives.”