“When businesses and market economies function properly and focus on serving the common good, they contribute greatly to the material and even the spiritual well-being of society. Recent experience, however, has also demonstrated the harm caused by the failings of businesses and markets. The transformative developments of our era – globalisation, communications technologies, and financialisation – produce problems alongside their benefits: inequality, economic dislocation, information overload, financial instability and many other pressures leading away from serving the common good. Business leaders who are guided by ethical social principles, lived through virtues and illuminated for Christians by the Gospel, can, nonetheless, succeed and contribute to the common good.
“Obstacles to serving the common good come in many forms – lack of rule of law, corruption, tendencies towards greed, poor stewardship of resources – but the most significant for a business leader on a personal level is leading a ‘divided’ life. This split between faith and daily business practice can lead to imbalances and misplaced devotion to worldly success. The alternative path of faith-based ‘servant leadership’ provides business leaders with a larger perspective and helps to balance the demands of the business world with those of ethical social principles, illumined for Christians by the Gospel. This is explored through three stages: seeing, judging, and acting, even though it is clear that these three aspects are deeply interconnected.”
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace recently released “Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection,” which is designed to offer Christian business leaders a resource to consider how they are promoting human dignity and the common good in their sphere of influence.
Media report:
To access a copy of the booklet, please visit:
University of St. Thomas: Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection
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