What would a genuinely Christian vision of economic life look like today? Cathonomics, by Anthony Annett, offers one answer, drawing on Catholic social teaching to rethink how we work, trade, and hold wealth. But the book opens up even more when you read it alongside two older, very different voices: the contemplative monk Thomas Merton and the fourth-century... Continue Reading →
Preach What You Practice: Why Catholic Institutions Must Welcome the Union
The Church has long upheld workers’ dignity. Now is the time to live that principle within its own walls. It’s uncomfortable when a Catholic hospital administrator discourages unionization while a local bishop endorses labor dignity. This contradiction can be resolved. Catholic institutions shouldn’t just accept worker organizing—they should welcome it as true to their identity.... Continue Reading →
Merton, Cardijn, Rerum Novarum, and the New Things of Our Time: Magnifica Humanitas
In ten days, we celebrate the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum. More than a century ago, Pope Leo XIII wrote Rerum Novarum—”On the New Things”—to address the social upheaval of industrial capitalism. His central message—labor is not a commodity, workers deserve dignity, and justice is essential—remains as urgent today as ever. This text argues that revisiting... Continue Reading →
It’s the Economy — And It’s Personal: Cathonomics makes Disciples
How one big idea is changing the way Catholics think about money, markets, and everyday life Let's be honest. When most of us hear the word "economics," our eyes glaze over. Graphs, interest rates, GDP — it can feel like a conversation happening somewhere far above our heads, in boardrooms and government offices that have... Continue Reading →
Still Angry After All These Years: What a 1931 Pope Got Right About Big Tech, Gig Work, and the Broken Economy
There’s something almost eerie about reading Quadragesimo Anno today. Pope Pius XI wrote it in 1931, in the middle of the Great Depression, watching fascism and communism rise across Europe like twin thunderheads. He was responding to a world coming apart at the seams — mass unemployment, obscene concentrations of wealth, and an ideological tug-of-war... Continue Reading →
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