In an effort to help businesses stay strong and healthy, and avoid the occupational hazards of greed, overwork and exploitation, the Vatican’s justice and peace council has released a handbook for business educators and entrepreneurs.
“Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection (PDF)” is a 30-page primer from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace that spells out the risks of unethical economic strategies and the principles needed for running a sound, moral business.
It seeks to heal the so-called “divided life” of Catholic employers, who may practice their Christian values at home and church, but not in the company they manage or run.
“Dividing the demands of one’s faith from one’s work in business is a fundamental error which contributes to much of the damage done by businesses in our world today, including overwork to the detriment of family or spiritual life, an unhealthy attachment to power to the detriment of one’s own good, and the abuse of economic power in order to make even greater economic gains,” the booklet says.
The council’s president, Cardinal Peter Turkson, said the church wanted to help business people excel in their field and their faith. The handbook offers a renewed vision of what successful businesses are meant to be and do.
The primer was the brainchild of three business educators: Robert Kennedy and Michael Naughton of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and Andre Habisch of the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, Germany.
