The primacy of being over having

I never cease to marvel over the hypocrisy of so-called devout Christians who espouse selfishness and greed, while abandoning the poor and less fortunate.  That is why I was gratified to read that the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issued a strong and thoughtful critique of the global financial system this week.  E.J. Dionne has a great article on the subject in today’s WaPo,  Here is a taste:

The report spoke of “the primacy of being over having,” of “ethics over the economy,” and of “embracing the logic of the global common good.”

In a knock against those who oppose government economic regulation, the council emphasized “the primacy of politics — which is responsible for the common good — over the economy and finance.” It commented favorably on a financial transactions tax and supported an international authority to oversee the global economy.

The article goes on to explain that conservative Catholics are apoplectic over the report and are trashing it.  In response to that, E.J. makes the following cogent and telling observation:

 My, my. It is always entertaining for those of us who are liberal Catholics to watch our conservative Catholic friends try to wriggle around the fact that, on the matters of social justice and the economy, Catholic social teaching is, by any measure, “progressive.” Conservatives regularly condemn liberal “Cafeteria Catholics” who pick and choose among the church’s teachings. But the conservatives often skip the parts of the moral buffet involving peace, social justice and what Pope John Paul II called the “idolatry of the market.”

E.J. also weaves in the “OW” demonstrations.  All in all it’s a worthwhile read.