Teachings by Father James Chelich at 1449 Wilcox Park Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506 US - The Foundation of Catholic Social Teaching

Part 1 of 5 The Biblical Foundation of Catholic Social Teaching... ...is the Ten Commandments and the Social Commandments found in the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament in the Bible): If one of your kinsmen in any community is in need in the land...you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand to him in his need. Instead, you shall open your hand to him and freely lend him enough to meet his need... Deuteronomy 15:7-11 You shall not go about spreading slander among your kinsmen; nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor's life is at stake. Leviticus 19:16 A proactive concern for others must be fostered in society’s ethics and in the social order. Indifference to the plight of others is a moral evil. When your countryman becomes so impoverished beside you that he sells you his services, do not make him work as a slave. Rather, let him be like a hired servant or like your tenant, working with you...Do not lord it over them harshly, but stand in fear of your God. Leviticus 25:39-43 You shall not defraud a poor and needy hired servant, whether he be one of your own countrymen or one of the aliens who live in your communities. You shall pay him each day's wages before sundown on the day itself, since he is poor and looks forward to them. Deuteronomy 24:14-1 No one shall take a hand mill or even its upper stone as a pledge for debt, for he would be taking the debtor's sustenance as a pledge. Deuteronomy 24:6 If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. Exodus 22:25-26 Provision must be made in the social order to protect the vulnerability of those who have fallen on hard times. You may never remove a person’s means of sustaining themselves. Opportunity to recover must be extended. When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not be so thorough that you reap the field to its very edge, nor shall you glean the stray ears of grain. Likewise, you shall not pick your vineyard bare, nor gather up the grapes that have fallen. These things you shall leave for the poor and the alien. Leviticus 19:9-10 Provision must be made in the social order for those who live in destitution. You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgement. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly. Lev 19:15 Rigorous honesty and uncompromised fairness is essential in the social order. You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God. Leviticus 19:13-14 Stand up in the presence of the aged, and show respect for the old; thus shall you fear your God. Leviticus 19:32 Social structures and procedure must respect the basic human dignity of all, especially the weak and impaired. When an alien resides with you in your land, do not molest him. You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you... Leviticus 19:33 There is to be no distinction between the treatment of the native or the foreigner. At the end of every seven-year period you shall have a relaxation of debts, which shall be observed as follows. Every creditor shall relax his claim on what he has loaned his neighbor; he must not press his neighbor, his kinsman... Deutoronomy 15:1-2 Provision must be made for individuals to reorganize and manage debt with a view to their renewed ability to meet their responsibilities. Seven weeks of years shall you count -- seven times seven years -- so that the seven cycles amount to forty-nine years... This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you... Lev 25:8-12 The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine, and you are but aliens who have become my tenants. When one of your countrymen is reduced to poverty and has to sell some of his property...what he has sold shall remain in the possession of the purchaser until the Jubilee, when it must be released and returned to its original owner. Lev. 25:23-28 The opportunities of the next generation must not be foreclosed upon by the negligence or poor choices of the generation before. Neither shall you allege the example of the many as an excuse for doing wrong, nor shall you, when testifying in a lawsuit, side with the many in perverting justice. Exodus 23:2 “Everyone does it” is morally unacceptable. THE HISTORY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING Part 2 of 5 The Biblical Foundation of Catholic Social Teaching... ...is the Ten Commandments and the Social Commandments found in the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament in the Bible). In his teaching and example, Jesus expressed these Commandments in their fullness. These Commandments are Divinely revealed principles of personal and social integrity which form the blue print for a just world -- a world in which men and women live in right and life-giving relationship with God, with each other and with the natural elements and creatures around them. HISTORY OF ITS MODERN EXPRESSION In modern times Catholic Social Teaching has found focused and systematic expression as the Church addressed the social and economic realities of the modern world with the principles God set forth in the Commandments: Rerum Novarum, by Pope Leo XIII - 1891 This encyclical (teaching) letter focuses on the dignity of the worker and the purpose and dignity of work. Pope Leo affirms the fundamental rights of workers. He also affirms... the right to “private property,” the right to establish professional associations of employers and workers, or of workers alone, the right to the “limitation of working hours, “ the right to legitimate rest and the right of children and women to be treated differently with regard to the type and duration of work, the right to a “just wage,” which cannot be left to the “free consent of the parties, so that the employer, having paid what was agreed upon, has done his part and seemingly is not called upon to do anything beyond,” the right to discharge freely one’s religious duties. Pope Leo sets forth the principle that “when there is question of defending the rights of individuals, the defenseless and the poor have a claim to special consideration.” Pope Leo asserts that the State has the duty of watching over the common good and of ensuring that every sector of social life, not excluding the economic one, contributes to achieving that good, while respecting the rightful autonomy of each sector. Catholic Social Teaching continued to develope and mature in its expression, but always based on the unchanging principles God set forth in the Commandments: Mater et Magistra, Pope John XXIII - 1961 Pacem in Terris, Pope John XXIII - 1963 Gaudiumm et Spes, Vatican Council II - 1965 Populorum Progresssio, Pope Paul VI - 1967 Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI - 1968 Justice in the World, Synod of Bishops - 1971 Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II - 1981 Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II - 1991 JUSTICE... ...is Right and Life-giving Relationship with God, with others, with the earth and its creatures. Social Justice (Contributive Justice)... ...implies that persons have an obligation to be active and productive participants in the life of society and that society has a duty to enable them to participate in this way. EJA 71 Commutative Justice... ...regulates exchanges between persons in accordance with a strict respect for their rights. Commutative Justice obliges strictly; it requires safeguarding property rights, paying debts, and fulfilling obligations freely contracted. Commutative Justice calls for fundamental fairness in all agreements and exchanges between individuals or private social groups. CCC 2411 Distributive Justice... ...regulates what the community owes its citizens in proportion to their contributions and needs. Legal Justice... ...concerns what the citizen owes in fairness to the community. PRINCIPLES OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING Part 3 of 5 The Transcendent Dignity of the Human Person: There exists something which is due to the person because he is a person, by reason of his lofty dignity. Inseparable from that required “something” is the possibility to survive and, at the same time, to make an active contribution to the common good of humanity. CA 34 The human person, as the visible image of the invisible God, is by his very nature the subject of rights which no one may violate -- no individual, group, class, nation or State. Not even the majority of a social body may violate these rights, by going against the minority, by isolating, oppressing, or exploiting it, or by attempting to annihilate it. CA 44 (These rights include): the right to life, an integral part of which is the right of the child to develop in the mother’s womb from the first moment of conception; the right to live in a united family and in an moral environment conducive to the growth of the child’s personality; the right to develope one’s intelligence and freedom in seeking and knowing the truth; the right to share in the work which makes wise use of the earth’s material resources, and to derive from that work the means to support oneself and one’s dependents; the right freely to establish a family, to have and to rear children through the responsible exercise of one’s sexuality... the right to live in the truth of one’s faith and in conformity with one’s transcendent dignity as a person. CA 47 It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental human needs to remain unsatisfied, and not to allow those burdened by such needs to perish... CA 34 The Family: The first and fundamental structure for “human ecology” is the family, in which someone receives his first formative ideas about truth and goodness, and learns what is means to love and to be loved, and thus what it actually means to be a person. Here we mean the family founded on marriage, in which the mutual gift of self by husband and wife creates an environment in which children can be born and develop their potentialities, become aware of their dignity and prepare to face their unique and individual destiny. 39 It is urgent therefore to promote not only family policies, but also those social policies which have the family as their principal object, policies which assist the family by providing adequate resources and efficient means of support, both for bringing up children and for looking after the elderly... CA 49 Human Work... ...proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another... CCC 2427 Work is a duty... CCC 2427 In work, the person exercises and fulfills in part the potential inscribed in his nature. CCC 2428 Everyone should be able to draw from work the means of providing for his life and that of his family, and of serving the human community. CCC 2428 The fact is that many people...do not have the means which would enable them to take their place in an effective and humanly dignified way within a productive system in which work is truly central. They have no possibility of acquiring the basic knowledge which would enable them to express their creativity and potential. They have no way of entering the network of knowledge and intercommunication which would enable them to see their qualities appreciated and utilized. CA 33 Access to employment and to professions must be open to all without unjust discrimination: men and women, healthy and disabled, natives and immigrants. Society should help citizens find work and employment. CCC 2433 A Just Wage is the legitimate fruit of work. To refuse or withhold it can be a grave injustice. In determining fair pay, both the needs and the contributions of each person must be taken into account... Agreement between parties is not sufficient to justify morally the amount to be received in wages. CCC 2434 CCC - Catechism of the Catholic Church CA - Centesimus Annus, Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II EJA - Economic Justice for All by The Bishops of the United States PRINCIPLES OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING PART 4 of 5 The Universal Destination of Goods: The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race. CCC 2402 The Right to Private Property: The appropriation of property is legitimate for guaranteeing the freedom and dignity of persons and for helping each of them meet his basic needs and the needs of those in his charge.... CCC 2403 The right to private property does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The Universal Destination of Goods remains primordial... CCC 2403 In his use of things man should regard the external goods he legitimately owns not merely as exclusive to himself but common to others also, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as himself. CCC 2404 Man’s “dominion” over all creation...over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation. CCC 2414 Economic Initiative: Everyone has the right of economic initiative; everyone should make legitimate use of his talents to contribute to the abundance that will benefit all and to harvest the just fruits of his labor. CCC 2429 The purpose of a business firm is not simply to make a profit, but is to be found in its very existence as a community of persons who in various ways are endeavoring to satisfy their basic needs, and who form a particular group at the service of the whole of society. CA 35 Profits are necessary, however. They make possible the investments that ensure the future of a business and they guarantee employment. CCC 2432 Those responsible for business enterprises are responsible for the economic and ecological effects of their operation. They have an obligation to consider the good of persons and not only the increase of profits... CCC 2432 Social and Economic Systems: Any system in which social relationships are determined entirely by economic factors is contrary to the nature of the human person and his acts. CCC 2423 A theory that makes profit the exclusive norm and ultimate end of economic activity is morally unacceptable. CCC 2424 A system that “subordinates the basic rights of individuals and of groups to the collective organization of production” is contrary to human dignity. Every practice that reduces persons to nothing more than a means of profit enslaves man. CCC 2424 The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modern times with “communism” or “socialism.” She has likewise refused to accept, in the practice of “capitalism,” individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace over human labor. CCC 2425 Reasonable regulation of the marketplace and economic initiatives, in keeping with a just hierarchy of values and a view to the common good, is to be commended. CCC 2425 The State has the duty of watching over the common good and of ensuring that every sector of social life, not excluding the economic one, contributes to achieving that good, while respecting the rightful autonomy of each sector. CA 11 The Principle of Subsidiarity governs the extent of State involvement in economic activity as well as other social activity. The Principle of Subsidiarity: A community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good. CA 48 CCC - Catechism of the Catholic Church CA - Centesimus Annus, Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II EJA - Economic Justice for All by The Bishops of the United States PRINCIPLES OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING PART 5 of 5 The Preferential Option for the Poor: Those who are oppressed by poverty are the object of a preferential love on the part of the Church... CCC 2448 The duty of charity...is the duty to give from one’s “abundance” and sometimes even out of one’s needs, in order to provide what is essential for the life of a poor person... CA 36 It (is) necessary above all to abandon a mentality in which the poor --- as individuals and as peoples -- are considered a burden, as irksome intruders trying to consume what others have produced. The poor ask for the right to share in enjoying material goods and to make good use of their capacity for work, thus creating a world that is more just and prosperous for all. CA 28 It is necessary to reform international economic and financial institutions... ...so that they will better promote equitable relationships with less fortunate countries. The efforts of poor countries working for growth and liberation must be supported. CCC 2440 Rich nations have a grave responsibility toward those which are unable to ensure the means of their development by themselves or have been prevented from doing so by tragic...events. CCC 2439 Development must not be understood solely in economic terms, but in a way that is fully human. It is not only a question of raising all peoples to the level currently enjoyed by the richest countries, but rather of building up a more decent life through united labor, of concretely enhancing every individual’s dignity and creativity, as well as his capacity to respond to his personal vocation, and thus to God’s call. CA 29 Investment: The decision to invest, that is, to offer people an opportunity to make good use of their own labor, (should be) determined by an attitude of human sympathy and trust in Providence, which reveal(s) the human quality of the person making such decisions... The decision to invest in one place rather than another, in one productive sector rather than another, is always a moral choice... CA 36 A “Better Life”: It is not wrong to want to live better; what is wrong is a style of life which is presumed to be better when it is directed towards “having” rather than “being,” and which wants to have more, not in order to be more but in order to spend life in the enjoyment as an end in itself. It is therefore necessary to create lifestyles in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investment. CA 36 All of this can be summed up by repeating once more that economic freedom is only one element of human freedom. When it becomes autonomous, when man is seen more as a producer or consumer of goods than as a subject who produces and consumes in order to live, then economic freedom loses its necessary relationship to the human person and ends up by alienating and oppressing him CA 39 The Principle of Redemptive Re-Integration: “What is your thought on this: A man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away; will he not leave the ninety- nine out on the hills and go in search of the stray. It he succeeds in finding it, believe me he is happier about this one than about the ninety-nine that did not wander away. Just so, it is no part of your heavenly Father’s plan that a single one of these little ones should come to grief.” Matthew 18:12-14 Those who have fallen or been pushed to the margins of spiritual, religious, political, social or economic life must be reached out to. They must be extended an invitation to come back into the vital center of human community. Provision must be made to heal them and equip them, and a way must be made to facilitate their re-integration in the life of the spiritual, religious, political, social or economic community. CCC - Catechism of the Catholic Church CA - Centesimus Annus, Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II EJA - Economic Justice for All by The Bishops of the United States ESSENTIAL THEMES OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II Part I The Transcendent Dignity of the Human Person “God created man in His image; in the divine image God created him; male and female God created them.” Genesis 1:27 Besides the earth, humankind’s principle recourse is the person himself. His intelligence enables him to discover the earth’s productive potential and the many different ways in which human needs can be satisfied. (32) The root of modern totalitarianism is to be found in the denial of the transcendent dignity of the human person who, as the visible image of the invisible God, is therefore by his very nature the subject of rights which no one may violate -- no individual, group, class, nation or State. Not even the majority of a social body may violate these rights, by going against the minority, by isolating, oppressing, or exploiting it, or by attempting to annihilate it. (44) Today we are witnessing a predominance of the democratic ideal, together with a lively attention to and concern for human rights. But for this very reason it is necessary for peoples in the process of reforming their systems to give democracy an authentic and solid foundation through the explicit recognition of those rights: the right to life, an integral part of which is the right of the child to develop in the mother’s womb from the first moment of conception; the right to live in a united family and in a moral environment conducive to the growth of the child’s personality; the right to develope one’s intelligence and freedom in seeking and knowing the truth; the right to share in the work which makes wise use of the earth’s material resources, and to derive from that work the means to support oneself and one’s dependents; the right freely to establish a family, to have and to rear children through the responsible exercise of one’s sexuality... the right to live in the truth of one’s faith and in conformity with one’s transcendent dignity as a person. (47) It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental human needs to remain unsatisfied, and not to allow those burdened by such needs to perish... There exists something which is due to the person because he is a person, by reason of his lofty dignity. Inseparable from that required “something” is the possibility to survive and, at the same time, to make an active contribution to the common good of humanity. (34) It (is) necessary above all to abandon a mentality in which the poor --- as individuals and as peoples -- are considered a burden, as irksome intruders trying to consume what others have produced. The poor ask for the right to share in enjoying material goods and to make good use of their capacity for work, thus creating a world that is more just and prosperous for all. (28) The Family The first and fundamental structure for “human ecology” is the family, in which someone receives his first formative ideas about truth and goodness, and learns what is means to love and to be loved, and thus what it actually means to be a person. Here we mean the family founded on marriage, in which the mutual gift of self by husband and wife creates an environment in which children can be born and develop their potentialities, become aware of their dignity and prepare to face their unique and individual destiny. (39) It can happen, however, that when a family does decide to live up fully to its vocation, it finds itself without the necessary support from the State and without sufficient resources. It is urgent therefore to promote not only family policies, but also those social policies which have the family as their principal object, policies which assist the family by providing adequate resources and efficient means of support, both for bringing up children and for looking after the elderly... (49) ESSENTIAL THEMES OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II Part II The Dignity and Necessity of Work “Let (man) work with his hands at honest labor so that he will have something to share with those in need.” Ephesians 4:28 Work...belongs to the vocation of every person; indeed a human being expresses and fulfills himself by working. At the same time, work has a “social” dimension... (6) By means of his work a person commits himself, not only for his own sake but also for others and with others. Each person collaborates in the work of others and for their good. One works in order to provide for the needs of one’s family, one’s community, one’s nation, and ultimately all humanity. (43) The obligation to earn one’s bread by the sweat of one’s brow also presumes the right to do so. A society in which this right is systematically denied, in which economic policies do not allow workers to reach satisfactory levels of employment, cannot be justified from an ethical point of view, nor can that society attain social peace. (43) Whereas at one time the decisive factor of production was the land, and later capital -- understood as a total complex of the instruments of production -- today the decisive factor is increasingly the person, that is, one’s knowledge, especially one’s scientific knowledge, one’s capacity for interrelated and compact organization, as well as one’s ability to perceive the needs of others and to satisfy them. (32) The fact is that many people...do not have the means which would enable them to take their place in an effective and humanly dignified way within a productive system in which work is truly central. They have no possibility of acquiring the basic knowledge which would enable them to express their creativity and potential. They have no way of entering the network of knowledge and intercommunication which would enable them to see their qualities appreciated and utilized. (33) ESSENTIAL THEMES OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II Part III The Purpose and Value of Human Enterprise People work with each other, sharing a “community of work” which embraces ever widening circles. A person who produces something other than for his own use generally does so in order that others may use it after they have paid a just price, mutually agreed upon through free bargaining. It is precisely the ability to foresee both the needs of others and the combinations of productive factors most adapted to satisfying those needs that constitutes another important source of wealth in modern society. Besides, many goods cannot be adequately produced through the work of an isolated individual; they require the cooperation of many people in working towards a common goal. Organizing such a productive effort, planning its duration in time, making sure that it corresponds in a positive way to the demands which it must satisfy, and taking the necessary risks -- all this too is a source of wealth in today’s society. This process... should be viewed carefully and favorably... The modern business economy has positive aspects. Its basis is freedom exercised in the economic field, just as it is exercised in many other fields... Ownership of the means of production, whether in industry or agriculture, is just and legitimate if it serves useful work. It becomes illegitimate, however, when it is not utilized or when it serves to impede the work of others, in an effort to gain a profit which is not the result of the overall expansion of work and the wealth of society, but rather is the result of curbing them or of illicit exploitation, speculation or the breaking of solidarity among working people. Ownership of this kind has no justification, and represents an abuse in the sight of God and humanity.... Just as a person fully realizes himself in the free gift of self, so too ownership morally justifies itself in the creation, at the proper time and in the proper way, of opportunities for work and human growth for all. (43) The Church acknowledges the legitimate role of profit as an indication that a business is functioning well. When a firm makes a profit, this means that productive factors have been properly employed and corresponding human needs have been duly satisfied. But profitability is not the only indicator of a firm’s condition. It is possible for the financial accounts to be in order, and yet for the people -- who make up the firm’s most valuable asset -- to be humiliated and their dignity offended. Besides being morally inadmissible, this will eventually have negative repercussions on the firm’s economic efficiency. In fact, the purpose of a business firm is not simply to make a profit, but is to be found in its very existence as a community of persons who in various ways are endeavoring to satisfy their basic needs, and who form a particular group at the service of the whole of society. (35) A Better Life It is not wrong to want to live better; what is wrong is a style of life which is presumed to be better when it is directed towards “having” rather than “being,” and which wants to have more, not in order to be more but in order to spend life in enjoyment as an end in itself. It is therefore necessary to create lifestyles in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investment. (36) All of this can be summed up by repeating once more that economic freedom is only one element of human freedom. When it becomes autonomous, when man is seen more as a producer or consumer of goods than as a subject who produces and consumes in order to live, then economic freedom loses its necessary relationship to the human person and ends up by alienating and oppressing him (39) ESSENTIAL THEMES OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II Part IV The State and Economic Activity Economic activity, especially the activity of the market economy, cannot be conducted in an institutional, juridical or political vacuum. On the contrary, it presupposes sure guarantees of individual freedom and private property, as well as a stable currency and efficient public services. Hence the principle task of the State is to guarantee this security, so that those who work and produce can enjoy the fruits of their labors and thus feel encouraged to work efficiently and honestly. (48) Another task of the State is that of overseeing and directing the exercise of human rights in the economic sector. However, primary responsibility in this area belongs not to the State but to individuals and to the various groups and associations which make up society. The State could not directly ensure the right to work for all its citizens unless it controlled every aspect of economic life and restricted the free initiative of individuals. This does not mean, however, that the State has no competence in this domain, as was claimed by those who argue against any rules in the economic sphere. Rather, the State has a duty to sustain business activities by creating conditions which will ensure job opportunities, by stimulating those activities where they are lacking or by supporting them in moments of crisis. The State has the further right to intervene when particular monopolies create delays or obstacles to development. (48) In addition to the tasks of harmonizing and guiding development, in exceptional circumstances the State can also exercise a substitute function, when social sectors or business systems are too weak or are just getting under way, and are not equal to the task at hand. Such supplementary interventions, which are justified by urgent reasons touching the common good, must be as brief as possible, so as to avoid removing permanently from society and business systems the functions which are properly theirs, and so as to avoid enlarging the sphere of state intervention to the detriment of both economic and civil freedom. (48) Development Development must not be understood solely in economic terms, but in a way that is fully human. It is not only a question of raising all peoples to the level currently enjoyed by the richest countries, but rather of building up a more decent life through united labor, of concretely enhancing every individual’s dignity and creativity, as well as his capacity to respond to his personal vocation, and thus to God’s call. (29) It is necessary to break down the barriers and monopolies which leave so many countries on the margins of development, and to provide all individuals and nations with the basic conditions which will enable them to share in development. This goal calls for programmed and responsible efforts on the part of the entire international community. Stronger nations must offer weaker nations opportunities by making the necessary efforts and sacrifices and by ensuring political and economic stability, the certainty of better prospects for the future, the improvement of worker’s skills, and the training of competent business leaders who are conscious of their responsibilities. (35) The principle that debts must be paid is certainly just. However, it is not right to demand or expect payment when the effect would be the imposition of political choices leading to hunger and despair for entire peoples. It cannot be expected that the debts which have been contracted should be paid at the price of unbearable sacrifices. In such cases it is necessary to find...ways to lighten, defer or even cancel the debt. (35) The duty of charity...is the duty to give from one’s “abundance” and sometimes even out of one’s needs, in order to provide what is essential for the life of a poor person... The decision to invest, that is, to offer people an opportunity to make good use of their own labor, is also determined by an attitude of human sympathy and trust in Providence, which reveals the human quality of the person making such decisions... The decision to invest in one place rather than another, in one productive sector rather than another, is always a moral choice... (36)

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