Report on the final draft (June 1986) of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Pastoral Letter “Economic Justice for All” by the Lay Commission on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy William E. Simon and Michael Novak, Co-chairmen This lay commission has studied the final draft of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ letter, “Economic Justice for All: … Read more
Editor’s Introduction In January 1984, in a wide-ranging conversation in New York, George J. Gillespie, Michael Joyce and William E. Simon, former Secretary of the Treasury, came up with an idea: Why not form a committee of lay Catholics to respond to the invitation from the American Catholic bishops to reflect in a religious, way … Read more
1. TWO PRECIOUS LEGACIES We American Catholics are privileged to have received two precious legacies: Catholic faith and citizenship in the United States. Voluntarily joining together, we the undersigned laypersons express our gratitude to God for both traditions. Confirming in our own practical experience the creative thinking of the Jesuit John Courtney Murray and the … Read more
1. CAPITALISM AND CREATION “Man,” writes Pope John Paul II in Laborem Exercens, “is the image of God partly through the mandate received from his Creator to subdue, to dominate, the earth. In carrying out this mandate, man, every human being, reflects the very action of the creator of the universe.”62 In America, the image … Read more
1. THE FAMILY One of the elements of Catholic belief which we on the Lay Commission most admire, and for which we are most grateful, is the Catholic emphasis on the family. The family is the most important institution in our lives. Normally, it is in and through the family that the Faith is taught … Read more