What Is "Sustainable Prosperity for All" in the Catholic Social Tradition?

Abstract

This chapter discusses the character of "sustainable prosperity for all". Although the Catholic social tradition is reluctant to give unqualified practical advice about how to achieve prosperity, it is more confident in its discussion of human fulfillment, in its expertise about what is good for human beings living in community. The chapter proceeds as follows. Section 2 reflects on the nature of the human person. Section 3 outlines the place of income and material wealth in the Catholic vision of true prosperity. Section 4 presents a description of true prosperity in four parts: the personal and social virtues, the quality of social relations, personal initiative, and material wealth. Section 5 compares the Catholic vision of prosperity to alternative theories. Section 6 offers some concluding thoughts on the value of this approach and its empirical implementation.