Social Doctrine of the Church – The Role of Business Owners and Management

The social doctrine of the Church teaches that economic initiative is an expression of human intelligence and of the necessity of responding to human needs in a creative fashion.

The roles of business owners and management are important for they are central to the network of technical, commercial, financial and cultural bonds in society. The Church teaches that business owners and management must not limit themselves to taking only economic objectives of the company into consideration when making business decisions; rather they have a duty to respect in a concrete manner the human dignity of all who work within the company. They must strive to structure work in such a way as to promote family, especially mothers, in the fulfillment of their duties, and to invest is such a way as to allow individuals and peoples to have opportunity to make good use of their own labor.

Whereas the quest for an equitable profit is acceptable in economic activity, recourse of usury is to be morally condemned. Usury implies avarice, greed and injustice. The pursuit if  profit must be in harmony with the dignity of the people who work at different levels within the company.

For a more comprehensive discussion of this topic, refer to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, nos. 340-345.