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ABSTRACT. Using relevant encyclicals issued over the last 100 years, the author extracts those principles that constitute the underpinnings of Catholic Social Teaching about the employment relationship and contemplates implications of their incorporation into human resource policy. Respect For worker dignity, for his or her family's economic security, and for the common good of society clearly emerge as the primary guidelines for responsible human resource management. Dovetailing these three Church mandates with the economic objectives of the firm could, in essence, alter the firm's nature because profit motivations would be constrained by consideration for worker and societal welfare. Integration of Church teaching with current corporate goals should therefore impact greatly on a variety of human resource policies.
Among the resources available to employers who seek to effectuate proper and efficient personnel management are academic journals, management consultants, business magazines, newspapers and books. Unknown to many employers, however, there 15 a body of literature from the Vatican that also furnishes guidelines for responsible human resource management. These documents, collectively referred to as Catholic Social Teaching, span an entire century and address global concerns from poverty to world peace to the employment relationship.
The 1891 issuance of the highly celebrated encyclical Rerum Novarum ("Of New Things"--English Title: "The Condition of Labor") is traditionally considered the advent of modern Catholic Social Teaching. Its author, Pope Leo XIII, responded to a European economic community saturated with impoverished workers, decadent owners, and moral deterioration by offering the Vatican's interpretation of scriptural mandates for pious behavior. Through Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII sought to ameliorate the intolerable conditions of the employment nexus in a non-violent, non-revolutionary manner.
Several encyclicals have commemorated the anniversary of Rerum Novarum by updating and expanding Catholic Social Teaching in regard to evolving economic, social and political events. Consequently, there now exists a mature framework for approaching a range of social questions in accordance with Catholic doctrine. One such question is that of employer-employee relations. This article endeavors to familiarize managers interested in workplace justice and a respect-oriented approach to human resource management with Vatican teaching on this subject. It further proposes a model for consistent application of this teaching. Because the relative simplicity of this model belies the complex ethical dilemmas inherent in applying it, this...