Food for Thought

Jul 31, 2015

Catholic social teaching, which flows straight from the teaching of Jesus, addresses how we are to use money for our benefit and the benefit of others. From Pope Leo XIII to Pope Francis’ teachings, Church leaders have offered valuable guidance on this topic.

Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo’s encyclical, said that on the question of riches, “man ought not to regard external goods as his own, but as common so that, in fact, a person should readily share them when he sees others in need.”

More recently, Pope Francis noted that the problem isn’t the having of money. The problem is when money “owns” us. In The Joy of the Gospel, he said there’s a problem when we place our desire for money and wealth over the welfare of others. He calls this a “new tyranny” that “tends to devour everything that stands in the way of increased profits.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting St John Chrysostom, in No. 2446, says that this unrelenting “desire for money” steals from the poor and deprives them from life unless we willingly share what we have.