Economic Justice for All

The pursuit of economic justice is not an option or add-on for Catholics; it is part of who we are and what we believe.

We need to help our Church renew its sense of solidarity and our society rediscover a sense of national community.

Our community's greatest challenge is to encourage those with economic power to shape their decisions by how they affect the stability of families and the opportunities of people who are poor, while at the same time calling on all individuals to make personal choices that strengthen their families and contribute to the common good.

The call to economic justice is not a political preference or ideological choice, but a response to the Scriptures and a requirement of Catholic teaching.

It remains clear that the moral test of our society is how the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable are faring.

And, by this standard we are falling far short.

The challenge of this pastoral letter is not merely to think differently, but also to act differently.
The completion of a letter such as this is but the beginning of a long process of education, discussion, and action.

                                     -   From A DECADE AFTER ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR ALL, National Conference of Catholic Bishops on the 10th Anniversary of the Economic Pastoral,
1985