The Limits of Catholic Social Teaching

The election of Pope Leo XIV has brought attention back to the pontiff from whom he took his papal name: Pope Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878-1903. Specifically, it has highlighted what the 13th Leo is most known for: the introduction of modern “Catholic Social Teaching,” which can be found in many of his writings, but most particularly in his famous encyclical 1891 Rerum Novarum. 

Catholic Social Teaching holds an odd place in the panoply of Catholic teaching. Of course the Church has taught about social issues since her origins in the first century. In fact, the earliest non-biblical Christian writing, The Didache (written around 70-90 AD), condemned not only abortion but also “money-loving.” Applying to the world the moral teachings found in the Old Testament and in the words of Christ is an obligation and duty for the Church. 

Yet “Catholic Social Teaching,” as it is commonly known today, is more than just a few statements about pressing social issues. Starting with Pope Leo XIII, it became a group of interrelated teachings addressing modern political and economic realities. However, even though the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issued a Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church in 2004, these teachings are often difficult to pin down and debatable as to their exact authority.

We know definitively, for instance, what the teaching of the Church is regarding the Blessed Trinity or the Assumption of Mary. These doctrines have been clearly defined and demand our assent as Catholics. But what exactly is the level of authority of the Church’s teaching regarding a “just wage” and exactly how is this wage determined? This is not so clear.

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church states: 

The simple agreement between employee and employer with regard to the amount of pay to be received is not sufficient for the agreed-upon salary to qualify as a “just wage”, because a just wage “must not be below the level of subsistence” of the worker: natural justice precedes and is above the freedom of the contract. (Paragraph 302)

Based on this social teaching, many Catholics today advocate minimum wage laws that set the minimum wage above “the level of subsistence,” arguing further that Catholics are required to support this due to “Catholic Social Teaching.” I don’t think it’s that simple. 

Let’s consider an example. My teenage daughter currently works at a local family-owned farmers market. She is paid above our current state minimum wage, but the wage could in no way support her if she lived on her own, even if she worked full-time. I would guess that the absolute minimum wage that could support someone in most areas of the country is around $20/hour, and much higher in areas like California or New York. Anything less than that wage would not meet the level of subsistence (this doesn’t even address exactly what “subsistence” is in the modern world—does it, for example, include a cell phone or a laptop?). Does that mean that the minimum wage must be at least $20/hour throughout the country (and higher in some areas) in order to fulfill “Catholic Social Teaching?”

If this were the case, the local family-run business would be required to pay my daughter—who has no real work skills yet and no work experience—at least $20/hour. If this were the requirement, I can assure you that it would likely not have hired her (so her pay would be $0/hour), or if it had, would then need to increase the price of the food it sells substantially, which would lead to higher food prices for our community or (more likely) the bankruptcy of the family-run farmers market (resulting in fewer employment opportunities for people in our area).

Quickly we see the murky issues surrounding Catholic Social Teaching. Declaring that Catholics must believe that abortion is murder and should always be illegal is clearly a binding moral principle; declaring that Catholics must support a specific minimum wage law is not. Likewise, the Church—and especially the papacy—has been given a charism for teaching faith and morals authoritatively, but that charism does not extend to understanding economics. Yet I’ve seen time and again Catholics online insist that I’m not a good Catholic if I don’t accept every jot and tittle of Catholic Social Teaching (as they interpret it) because I’m “violating magisterial teaching.” Catholic Social Teaching is wielded like a hammer against Catholics to drive home political and economic views that sometimes just don’t make sense.  Declaring that Catholics must believe that abortion is murder and should always be illegal is clearly a binding moral principle; declaring that Catholics must support a specific minimum wage law is not.Tweet This

This is where it’s important to step back and understand what Catholic social teaching (note the lack of capitalization) really means. It’s the prudent application of fixed moral principles to the realities of the contemporary world. Before the 19th century, there was little discussion about just wages and minimum wages, simply because most people didn’t work for a wage—they worked for themselves or were attached to an estate which supported their needs. So with the advent of widespread wage-based work, the Church felt the need to apply her perennial moral teachings to this new situation. This is not the same as declaring those underlying, unchanging moral teachings. 

How does it differ? Most importantly, social teachings need to be applied in real-life situations by those directly involved in those situations, which is typically the laity. This means that, unlike the teaching about the immorality of abortion, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. The Church is concerned that workers be treated justly and not taken advantage of due to their subordinate position compared to their employers. So it calls on employers to pay their employees justly, and, if necessary, for governments to step in if unjust treatment of employees becomes widespread.

So what exactly is a “just wage?” I know that Pope Leo XIII and other popes after him have declared that a “simple agreement” between employer and employee regarding wages is not sufficient to qualify as a “just wage,” yet the past 100+ years and basic economic theory has shown that this free-market method is exactly how wages are best determined that are fair to both employee and employer. Yes, there are exceptions, but on the whole the free market has been far more fair to both parties than any government intervention. Laws that overly favor one group over the other end up being bad for the economy, which leads to increased poverty—exactly what Pope Leo XIII and other popes wanted to avoid in their call for a “just wage.” 

The wage agreed upon between my daughter and the local farmers market was a “simple agreement” between the two parties, yet it is not above the level of subsistence. So is it an unjust wage? Absolutely not, because with this particular mutually-agreed-upon wage, both parties are satisfied: my daughter gets to make some money this summer and pick up some valuable skills, and the farmers market is able to pay her a wage that allows it to keep its prices reasonable for its customers. 

If a middle-aged man with five children came and applied for that same job, should the farmers market be required to pay him a higher rate—one that matches his much higher level of subsistence—even if he had no more skills than my daughter? While that might seem to match what “Catholic Social Teaching” demands, it makes no sense economically, and the Church doesn’t require us to turn off our brains when applying her teachings to real life situations. We are called to find the most just wage that meets the demands of employees, employers, and the community which buys the products of the employer, and usually the free market is the best means to that outcome.

The level of wages is just one illustration of why we cannot treat Catholic Social Teaching in the exact same way that we treat the Church’s theological and moral dogmas and doctrines. There is no wiggle room when it comes to official declarations about the Real Presence in the Eucharist or the immorality of divorce. Yet how exactly Catholic social teaching is applied in different times and in different places can vary, even considerably. When it comes to the application of this body of teachings in society, we should look to the Church as an important guide who provides the underlying principles, not as a dictator who sets laws.