To follow up from my earlier intention to study this topic, here's a filler post about The Acton Institute whose mission is "to promote a free, virtuous, and humane society" and whose direction "recognizes the benefits of a limited government, but also the beneficent consequences of a free market."
While I don't know much about Rev. Robert A Sirico, a Catholic priest, or anyone on board this organization, to form an opinion about the institute's conformity with the teachings of the Church, it provides an interesting starting point (yet again) for anyone learning about ethics & Christian views on it:
- Support for entrepreneurs
- Support of right to private property
- Markets & morality of capitalism
Reading an interview (PDF) of Fr Sirico from the year 2000, it seems like he was a passionate youth on the Economic Left in the 70's before delving into the likes of Hayek and Friedman, which helped to disabuse him from the notion that "some have because others don't".
"I support liberty; I oppose libertinism. The most freeing experiences of my life have been when I surrendered myself to legitimate authority
...
Liberty is logically ordered to the truth; that is, it is ordered to something beyond itself. [Lord] Acton's twin concerns in his writing of history was the importance of human liberty, but the equal importance of religion as the regulator of liberty.
Economic truth is truth, but it is not the whole truth. The talent for business comes from something that transcends economics; it comes from a culture that respects the human person."
I will read and review some of his articles and post them here in the coming few months. Meanwhile, any comments/insights/links to resources are always welcome.
2 comments:
You may find this reading interesting as well.
Anonymous, you might like to leave an identity next time you want to discredit someone's reputation.
As I wrote, it's not apparent how his views have been faithful (or not) to the Church from his recent writings. As for his supposedly less-than-fantastic past, perhaps he might have had a conversion since? If your point is to insinuate that Sirico's past may lead to his current work I'm reviewing having a hidden agenda, then it's point taken, thank you.
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