These World Crises are Crises of Saints
This past Wednesday (01/05), I was part of a panel discussion on the issue of the Church's teaching on Labor and the rights and duties attached to Labor, as expressed in the social doctrine of the Catholic Church. We focused on the encyclical Rerum Novarum by Leo XIII. The panel consisted of four laymen of various expertise, as well as an SVD priest. I was the least qualified to contribute anything on this topic, so I stayed silent for the most part and allowed the others to speak. We focused a lot of attention on Socialism, and its uglier cousin Communism, and the weaknesses of Capitalism as well. My major contribution was on three points: According to St. Francis de Sales, it is a sin against charity for a married man to give up his entire wealth to the poor. This is so because he has a duty to provide for his wife and children. We have a right to private property, and this is so because we have a right to a just remuneration for our services and goods produced as a result of la...
