Catholic Social Teaching on Building a Just Society: The Need for a Ceiling and a Floor

• Main Author: Kenneth Himes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-03-01
• Series: Religions
• Subjects: economic inequality; Catholic social teaching; John Ryan; living wage; Gaudium et spes; communitarianism; relative equality
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/8/4/49

Msg. John A. Ryan was the leading voice for economic justice among American Catholics in the first half of the twentieth century. Although he was a champion of the proposal for a living wage to establish a minimum floor below which no worker might fall, Ryan gave little attention to whether there ought to be a ceiling to limit wealth among concentrated elites. I believe Ryan’s natural law methodology hindered a fuller vision of economic justice when addressing inequality. Contemporary Catholic social teaching, shaped by documents like Vatican II’s Gaudium et spes, has formulated a communitarian approach to justice that deals more adequately with the dangers of vast economic disparities. The essay concludes with a few ideas regarding how the post-conciliar outlook assists in rectifying the growing trend of economic inequality within American society.