Correct Catholic Blindness

Abstract

"See, judge, act.” Such has been the method by which modern Catholic social teaching has urged Catholics to approach the political and economic challenges of our time. First and foremost, the “seeing” involves looking with the eyes of Christ rather than through the prism of our own ideology. But seeing inevitably entails choices concerning what we look at and the breadth and depth of what we take into account. In that respect, alas, the field of vision of modern Catholic social doctrine appears to have been far more limited than often is realized, and so it is less effective in helping Catholics and other Christians address many economic issues, ranging from Europe’s bleak unemployment prospects to poverty in the developing world.