What the Church teaches is not a set of rules for business but "a way of life," Abela said. "Running a corporation well" involves various duties both "effective" and "ethical," he said, including "taking care of your employees, taking care of your customers, taking care of the communities in which the corporation works."
This reflects a "cooperative" mindset that Pope Benedict talked about in his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, emphasizing the need for businesses to consider the needs not only of shareholders but all stakeholders--communities, customers, employees, society as a whole, and the environment.
More corporations are moving towards this more "inclusive" business model that operates for the long-term, Cremers said, with an increase in technology and "intangible assets" underlining the need for relationships and "long-term investments."
"And that is also why I think the statement now is timely," he said, pointing to a 2018 letter to CEOs from Larry Fink, the CEO of the financial planning and investment management firm BlackRock; Fink stated that "a company's ability to manage environmental, social, and governance matters demonstrates the leadership and good governance that is so essential to sustainable growth."
The Business Roundtable statement expands upon that, Cremers said, explicitly stating the goal of "generating long-term value for shareholders" and not just short-term profits.
Shareholders "are the owners of the corporation" and have property rights, Abela said, but other duties must be looked to as well. "And if you don't do that, you're not going to be long-term successful as a corporation, as a business."
The Church teaches private property rights in conjunction with the "universal destination of goods," Abela said, "the idea that the goods of this world are for the good of all."
"What that means is if you own property, you ought to use that property to serve others," he said.
A New York Times article on the statement noted that it did not address the pay of executives being tens or even hundreds of times greater than lower-level employees.
"It's a controversial issue," Abela acknowledged, saying that unjust pay is wrong and that executives should not be paid exorbitant salaries if a company is performing poorly.
However, he said, "if a firm is doing well and paying its employees fairly, and making tons of money for its investors, then I don't think anyone should put any limits on how much the CEO is being paid. It's a rare skill to run a large corporation, a large complex corporation, especially in this litigious age."
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Matt Hadro was the political editor at Catholic News Agency through October 2021. He previously worked as CNA senior D.C. correspondent and as a press secretary for U.S. Congressman Chris Smith.