During their fall meeting in 1986, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops passed by a vote of 225 to 9 the final draft of Economic Justice for All (.pdf). Many had hoped that the bishops would celebrate the letter’s twenty-fifth anniversary in 2011 by updating it in light of all that had transpired during those twenty-five years—especially the changing nature of (...)
November 13, 2012
Article
American Pastoral
Revisiting ‘Economic Justice for All’
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In 1986 it appears that most of the bishops were not Republicaths. But now .....
One other issue which needs to be addressed in any updated document is information technology. That has had a radical effect on the economy, not only in communications media but also in industrial production, and almost anything else ypu care to name.
With all due respect to Archbishop Rembert Weakland, where did the teaching, Economic Justice for All, succeed? To the best of my knowledge there wasn't any rush to implement the document. In fact, where was it successfully implemented and turned an economy around? President Reagan's economic policies did turn around a troubled economy, i.e. unemployment improved, interest rates dropped, etc. Again, with all due respect, the ability of the bishops in their particular dioceses to successfully manage a budget is not stellar considering all the bankruptcies or near bankruptcies. In fact, Archbishop Weakland's own archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. One wonders why he omitted this fact. Not a ringing endorsement to support his argument. Today in 2012, Bishop Tobin took the high road, the prudent road, NO COMMENT. Something Archbishop Weakland might consider in his next statement on the economy, unless he wishes to write an exposé on the success of Reaganeconomics. Now that would make headlines, even in the Wall Street Journal.