Encyclical Spin Control

"Up With Capitalism," exclaimed the May cover of Crisis magazine, a conservative Catholic monthly that featured articles on "the Pope's economic discovery" in his recent encyclical Centesimus Annus. "The Pope Affirms the 'New Capitalism,'" boasted the title of a column written by Richard John Neuhaus in the May 2 Wall Street Journal. "New Encyclical Praises Freedom and Enterprise," proclaimed the lead article in the June newsletter of the Institute for Religion and Democracy.

Has the Pope indeed blessed capitalism as the economic answer to our prayers in the wake of the failure of communism in Eastern Europe? Or is this a case of sophisticated spin control and proof-texting on the part of the most adamant free market hopefuls in the Catholic Church?

These are the questions fueling a lively debate in Catholic circles in recent weeks, with a number of Catholic commentators suggesting the latter is the case. In a May 25 editorial, the editors of the weekly Catholic journal America wrote: "The Pope specifically warns the Western countries that they risk seeing communism's collapse as a one-sided victory for their own system and thus might fail to correct it in accord with Christian social teaching."

In a May 24 letter to The Wall Street Journal, Monsignor George Higgins -- who was a spokesperson for the U.S. bishops on social issues for more than 25 years -- criticized Neuhaus for suggesting that the new encyclical negates the bishops' 1986 pastoral letter on economics. Higgins, who now teaches at the Catholic University of America, said the 1986 pastoral and the recent encyclical accepted capitalism's "good qualities" while insisting that "it needs to be controlled by other forces in society."

Phil Land, of the Center of Concern in Washington, DC, also takes issue with the unqualified appraisal of the encyclical by Neuhaus and others, but he told Sojourners the pope left himself open to their interpretation by not making his qualifying language regarding capitalism strong enough.

The pope appeared to underscore his reservations about capitalism when he told a group of international economic and political experts at the Vatican on May 15 -- just two weeks after the release of the encyclical -- that the gap between rich and poor was a "scandalous violation" of the principle that all share in the goods of the earth.

While recognizing that productive capital increases development, John Paul added that "this increase is not always accomplished for the benefit of a great number of people; instead, the capital remains concentrated in the hands of a few people."

The pope's comments echoed an editorial in the May 17 issue of National Catholic Reporter, which has welcomed the debate surrounding the encyclical and capitalism: "Both in the United States and on a planetary scale, capital continues to be sucked into the hands of fewer people while growing numbers scramble to remain alive ... As Christians, as U.S. Catholics, we are obliged to keep this in mind as we continue the economic discussions."

In a case of reverse spin control, the Vatican recently cautioned U.S. Catholic bishops working on the long-awaited pastoral letter on women to "walk cautiously." At an international "consultation" on the letter hosted by the Vatican in late May, Vatican officials and some international bishops urged that the letter be downgraded to a "pastoral statement," which would have "lesser value of authority," and warned against the influence of "radical feminists."

Some U.S. Catholic women believe the U.S. bishops have already been too cautious by toning down the first draft of the document, which had opened the door to a dialogue on the ordination of women to the priesthood. The second draft was shelved last fall before the bishops could cast a deciding vote when the Vatican intervened and asked for a delay.

"This international consultation is one more absurd diversion away from undertaking the necessary changes in the present hierarchical structure of the institutional church," said Judy Vaughan in a National Association of Religious Women press release.

Bishop Joseph Imesch, head of the U.S. bishops' drafting committee on the women's document, told National Catholic Reporter he was "disappointed" following the recent meeting in Rome; and he indicated that further delay will only continue to be disheartening to Catholic women.

"Some will continue to be patient and long-suffering," Imesch said. "And others will simply say, 'What's the use.'"

Judy Coode assisted with research.