From the editor.

This is the third issue of the Review of Business devoted to the topic of Catholic Social Thought and Management Education. Our goal has been to use insights of the social teachings of the Church to better understand the role of business in modem society and to develop business practices that promote the common good. Most of the articles malting up these three special issues came from a series of conferences. The Peter J. Tobin College of Business at St. John's University co-sponsored these events, with the support of Deans Charles Kronke, Larry Boone and Peter J. Tobin being instrumental to their success. Michael Naughton, Director of the John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought at the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, led these efforts. More information on this project can be found at the St. Thomas Web site: http://department.stthomas.edu/cathstudies/cst/mgmt/.

Notre Dame theologian Todd Whitmore has referred to Catholic social thought as practical reason, in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas. Few Catholics have used practical reason toward promoting the common good and the care for the poor more than St Vincent de Paul. Our issue starts off with an article in interview form. It is an interview with Rev. Thomas McKenna, C.M., Provincial of the Eastern Province for the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) and a member of the St. John's University Department of Theology and Religious Studies. Fr. McKenna has written about Vincent's skills in many areas of business administration, and in this interview he relates Vincent's work to ours as business educators and to the practice of business in our society.

The next two articles come from the Third International Conference on Catholic Social Thought and Management Education, held in Goa, India in 1999. The goal of this and similar conferences has been to see what insights Catholic social thought tradition can bring to various business disciplines. Such an under taking first requires examining each of these disciplines to see how they compare with Catholic social thought In "Contemporary Management Theories and Catholic Social Teaching Similarities and Differences," Stephen J. Porth and John McCall, both of St Joseph's University in Philadelphia, take a look at two distinct intellectual traditions that seem to have nothing in common, yet they find many areas of convergence. The reason is simple -- the central object of analysis of both management theory and Catholic social thought is the human being. Thus, Catholic social thought can be seen as an important tool for business educators to lay the foundation of a "person-centered" management theory and provide a v alues link between management theory and the Christian tradition of Catholic Universities.

The next article in this issue deals with the leisure, or "hospitality," industry. Certainly more than most, the leisure industry must center on human beings and their needs am desires -- and not just the needs of the customer, but the people who provide the service as well. Dr. James J. Spillane's contribution, "The Christian Humanization of Work" Job Satisfaction in the Hospitality Industry," bring the perspective of "spirituality of work" to the specific context of the worker in the leisure industry. This industry has close ties to the Gospel tradition of welcoming strangers an caring for the needs of others. Understanding the spirituality of leisure services helps enhance both job performance and satisfaction. The humanity of both the traveler and host need to be recognized and celebrated, creating thc happiest, most productive outcome for both.

The next three articles come from a session on Catholic social thought and the problems of economic transition at the Economic Transition in Historical Perspective Conference, held in Krakow, Poland in 1998 (a conference co-sponsored by Jagiellonian University, St. John's University and Carcow University of Economics). The first of these articles, "Catholic Social Thought and Economic Transition" by St. John's Charles M. A. Clark, provides an overview of the insights Catholic social thought offers to the issue of economic transition, especially the need for a moral foundation to guide transition policy.

The second article in this mini-symposium considers the writings of Pope John Paul II as they pertain to the economy; specifically, the ethical foundations upon which the economy is based. Professor Wieslaw Piatkowski's piece highlights the significant contributions of John Paul II to Catholic social thought and to our understanding of the economy and the role of values in economic activity.

This article is followed by another contribution from a Polish economist, Dr. Gedymin Spychalski (both are from the University of Lodz), who writes about the role the social thought of the Church had in the political and economic transformations in 1989. Many have argued that the beginning of the fall of the "Iron Curtain" came when John Paul II made his historic trip to Poland in 1979. By showing how the course of events following this trip was influenced by the social teachings of the Church, Dr. Spychalski demonstrates that these ideas are not mere abstractions but, rather, are meant to guide our efforts to reform our current world, to promote the common good.

St. Vincent dc Paul tells us that God first wants our hearts, then our work. For our work to reflect our callings as Christians, we need to reflect on the true purpose of this work: serving others. This is the goal of bringing the Catholic social thought tradition to business education -- to refocus the purpose of business to its true aim and to assist Christians who long to have their faith permeate all aspects of their lives.