Page 28: Apostles and Markets

Can the discipline of economics help teachers in Catholic high schools to present the beauty and truth of Catholic social teaching? As a long-time teacher of economics in a Catholic school, I feel certain that it can. Here as in other curricular areas, however, the exact manner in which an academic disciple may inform a school subject is not always clear, even to intelligent, hard-working teachers. I have written a new curriculum called Apostles & Markets (A&M) to offer assistance in this regard. A&M presents twelve lessons, each of which combines Catholic social teaching with sound economic principles to address a variety of contemporary social and economic issues. The lessons can be used sequentially or singly, in any order, and may complement teachers’ existing high school theology or social studies courses.

The beauty of Catholic social teaching is evident in the words of Pope Paul VI’s Populorum Progressio (1967), and Pope John Paul II’s Sollicitudo rei socialis (1987). Confident in the relevance of her teachings, the Church proclaims her "duty …, as ‘an expert in humanity,’ to scrutinize the signs of the times and to interpret them in the light of the Gospel" (On Social Concern, n. 7). How uplifting to read in the proclamation of Christ’s Church that its core competency, its area of expertise, is humanity, and to know that the Church strives to remind the world what it means to be human, what human beings are for, and what they are not for, all because of their God-created dignity.

The truths expressed in Catholic social teaching--among them the centrality of human dignity, the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, freedom of participation and association, care for the environment, and love of the poor--challenge faithful Catholics to practice the virtue of prudence and to use reason to think through opportunities for implementing these truths. Economic literacy is a valuable tool for meeting this challenge.