From the editor.

Catholic social thought is nothing more than a reflection on social, political and economic issues from the perspective of the Gospels and the 2000 year-old Catholic intellectual tradition. While most discussion of Catholic social thought centers on the Papal Encyclicals from 1891 (Rerum Novarum) to the present works of Pope John Paul II (the most recent being Centesimus annus, 1991), these Encyclicals build on the earlier tradition and are more like the tip of the iceberg. This long tradition should not surprise us--for God wants us to live lives of authentic happiness, and thus Jesus instructed Peter to build his Church to promote this end. For two millennia the Church has brought the good news of the Gospel to every corner of the planet; has followed Jesus' dictates on caring for the poor and marginalized by being by far the world's largest "social welfare agency" (and in many times and places the only one); and in its role as teacher and educator, has established the educational systems which have served as the foundation and model for the advances in the humanities, liberal arts and sciences that are the hallmarks of Western civilization.

It is this tradition that served as the inspiration for the Vincentian Fathers' founding of St. John's University in 1870. Since the economic and business aspects of our lives are very important, it is natural and appropriate for the Vincentians to include within their university a college for the study of business administration, The Peter J. Tobin College of Business. Jesus in the Gospels and the Apostles in the Acts often refer to economic and business issues, as did the Church Fathers and the great Scholastic philosophers (especially St. Thomas Aquinas) of the Middle Ages. This is the foundation, both theological and philosophical, of the Catholic social thought tradition, as well as the foundation of a Catholic business education.

In this fourth issue of the Review of Business devoted to Catholic social thought and management education, we start off with an interview with Juan M. Sinde, of Caja Laboral, the bank for the Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa (MCC). MCC is a cooperative explicitly based on the social teachings of the Church, and it has grown into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Mr. Sinde discusses the challenges of operating an ethically based cooperative in a global economy.

Our first two articles concentrate on some of the basic foundational issues. Charles M.A. Clark's lead article argues that a business education based on Catholic social thought (which is to say the 2000 year-old tradition mentioned above) provides a more realistic foundation for understanding business and the economy than what one normally sees in schools of business. It is more realistic because it is based on the world as it is--an accurate view of the human person, society and values--and it is based on an ethical system grounded in universal truths--the Gospel and the natural law. Jim Wishloff's article, after a detailed development of the basic themes of Catholic social thought, examines its implications for the field of business ethics. Both articles reflect Pope John Paul ll's recent call to rethink business and the economy:

Perhaps the time has come for a new and deeper reflection on the

nature of the economy and its purposes. What seems to be urgently

needed is a reconsideration of the concept of "prosperity" itself,

to prevent it from being enclosed in a narrow utilitarian

perspective which leaves very little space for values such as

solidarity and altruism.

Here I would like to invite economists and financial professionals,

as well as political leaders, to recognize the urgency of the need

to ensure that economic practices and related political policies

have as their aim the good of every person and of the whole person.

This is not only a demand of ethics but also of a sound economy.

Experience seems to confirm that economic success is increasingly

dependent on a more genuine appreciation of individuals and their

abilities, on their fuller participation, on their increased and

improved knowledge and information, on a stronger solidarity.

These are values which, far from being foreign to economics and

business, help to make them a fully "human" science and activity.

An economy which takes no account of the ethical dimension and does

not seek to serve the good of the person--of every person and the

whole person--cannot really call itself an "economy," understood in

the sense of a rational and constructive use of material wealth.

(World Day of Peace Message, 2000).

Charles M.A. Clark

The Peter J. Tobin College of Business and Senior Fellow, Vincentian Center for Church and Society, St. John's University