"The Vocation of the Business Leader"

This new statement on business, business ethics, and Catholic thought, backed by the Pontificial Council for Justice and Peace, has received positive responses from different points on the ideological spectrum.  I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but various commenters seem to appreciate its strong emphases both on the moral legitimacy of profitmaking and on the moral obligations of business leaders.  I found particularly interesting, though, John Allen's comments about the statement's method.  Allen emphasizes how the statement avoids the unattractive alternatives into which too many "faith/society/politicy" documents fall--that of dealing either in agreed-on but unhelpful abstractions or in specific but insufficiently-supported policy recommendations:

In a sound-bite, the idea is to be didactic on principle but interrogatory on policy. The church may not have to offer specific answers; perhaps it’s enough to frame the right questions. Think of it as Catholic social teaching, Socrates-style. . . .

Perhaps the most striking element of the text, however, comes in its appendix. There one finds a “Discernment Checklist for the Business Leader,” composed of thirty questions which amount to an examination of conscience informed by Catholic social teaching.

Some are fairly broad (yet still packing a punch), such as, “Have I been living a divided life, separating Gospel principles from my work?" . . . .

Others are more concrete, and with real bite. For instance: . . .

• Do I provide working conditions which allow my employees appropriate autonomy at each level?
• Am I making sure that the company provides safe working conditions, living wages, training, and the opportunity for employees to organize themselves? . . .

“Vocation of the Business Leader” may thus be that rarest of Vatican texts: Something that isn’t just dissected by vaticanisti and other denizens of the church’s chattering classes, but actually used out in the field. One can imagine, for instance, retreats for business leaders organized around the document, culminating in the examination of conscience it invites. . . .

The team drafting the document included, among others, my colleagues Mike Naughton (one of the coordinators), Ken Goodpaster, and Bob Kennedy from St. Thomas's business school, Catholic Studies center, and John Ryan Institute foe Catholic Social Thought.  A shout out to them and the other drafters!