Recently, I was sent a link to the website of a group called Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice, which was founded by Joseph Fahey, a Professor of Religious Studies at Manhattan College in the Bronx.  Here’s a link to their site:

http://www.catholicscholarsforjustice.org

The group and the site are new, and their stated mission is “to promote Catholic Social Teaching on the rights of workers and the indispensible role that unions play in securing justice (1) for workers and their families, (2) in the workplace, and (3) for the universal common good.”  According to its stated purpose, CSWJ members are trying to bring the strong knowledge of Catholic social justice teachings to bear on public perceptions of those teachings and to actually apply it in real world situations involving union organizing and labor disputes.

This brings to mind individuals like George Higgins and John A. Ryan (whose papers we have here at the archives), two scholarly priests who spent their lives trying to apply Catholic teachings as expressed Rerum Novarum, Quadragesimo Anno, as well as the U.S. Bishops’ teachings on economic justice.   Both Ryan and Higgins, in fact, headed the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, and their opinions were highly respected by Catholic and non-Catholic leaders alike.  We are still working on processing Monsignor Higgins’ papers, but our websites feature lots of materials that anyone who wants to educate themselves on matters of Catholic social justice.  In addition to the site on the Bishops’ Program, we have a site on Catholic responses to industrialization, which focuses on three different approaches to problems of social justice precipitated by industrial change.  You can find that one here:

http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/industrial/cri_wel.html

Another one that focuses wholly on the question of the living wage—How Much Is Enough?  Can be found here: 

http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/howmuch/hm_wel.html

This last site addresses many issues that continue to be relevant, such as the role of advertising in creating need, and a Catholic perspective on when consumption shades into excess.  This 1999 OSV article suggests the continuing relevance of the question: 

http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/howmuch/osv.pdf

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Catholic History, University Archives. All comments will be reviewed before they appear on this site. Comments will not be published if they are inappropriate or conflict with the library's or university's mission.