The concept of business in the encyclical Caritas in Veritate: an approach from the Economy of Communion
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The social doctrine of the Church, from the Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII (1891) to the Caritas in Veritate of Benedict XVI (2009), has proposed a model of enterprise based on individual freedom for the implementation of entrepreneurship with social responsibility and respect for the environment. In this way, the main mission of the entrepreneur would be not on maximizing business benefit in any way, but to become an innovator that generates and promotes projects. Expressly, in the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate is encouraged to the entrepreneur go beyond the logic of profit, without renouncing it. Similarly, it gets highlighted the importance of the company as a valuable place of creativity and generation of jobs, wealth and new products and services. Additionally, the Encyclical states that the management of the company should respond not only to the interests of its owners, but also the interest of the set of subjects that relate to it (employees, customers, suppliers,...) and the interest of the social environment in which it is inserted, taking into account the environmental sustainability of that same environment. In this communication, in the first place, the basic principles on which the market economy currently sits will be presented. Secondly, shall be a brief overview of the main ideas of the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate on economic and business activity. Thirdly, it will introduce the idea of “economy of communion” and it will be analyzed in the light of the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate. The article closes with a section of conclusions.
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