Centesimus Annus: A Critical Jewish Perspective Ronald M. Green ABSTRACT. The author reviews a series of deep affinities between the Catholic social teaching embodied in PopeJohn Paul II's recent encyclical, Centesimus Annus, and traditional Jewish teachings about economic justice. At the same time, the author maintains that from a Jewish perspective there is a "disquieting" feature to this recent papal letter. It presents twentieth century history in ways that mute or conceal the role some earlier papal teaching played in the rise of corporatist states, with their authoritarian regimes and xenophobic nationalism. Centesimus annus thus obscures the complex contribution Catholic social teaching made to the events leading up to the Holocaust of European Jewry. At the close of his encyclical letter celebrating the centenary of Catholic social teaching, Pope John Paul's II invites the commitment of "all people of good well" to the values the encyclical embodies. It was with this spirit that I embarked on the close study of Centesimus Annus. As a business ethicist of Jewish background, I realized that many of the themes in the tradition of Catholic social teaching have deep roots in the biblical heritage common to Jews and Christians. As a "Jewish liberal" - a phrase I sometimes like to think of as a pleonasm - I also sympathize deeply with many of the social teachings of recent popes and bishops. Yet, after reading and rereading this newest encTctical letter, I must express my discomfort. Despite its many aspects of great insight and value, from a Jewish point of view Centesimus Annus is a disquieting document. Before I explain myself further, a disclaimer is in Ronald M. Green is the John Phillips Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion, Dartmouth College and Adjunct Professorof Business Ethics at Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School of Business Administration. The author of four books, Professor Green is currently working on a textbook in business ethics entitled The Ethical Manager to bepublisked by MacmilIian. order. No one person speaks for the Jewish tradition. Even at its institutional level, Judaism is a house with many rooms. At one extreme stands the centuries- old Talmudic tradition, defended today by the Orthodox movement and various Hasidic sectarian groups2 At the other extreme is the Reform move- ment, whose teachings generally break with tradi- tional Jewish lax*" (Halakkak) and which seeks to adopt a modern approach to all areas of ethical concern, from sexuality to economic life. In between are the Conservative and Resconstructionist move- ments, which, congregation by congregation, adopt various mediating stances on the central issue of Halakhic observance. Apart from these formal religious organizations, Judaism also comprises many - perhaps a majority of- individuals with no institutional role or affilia- tion who nevertheless identify themselves as Jewish and believe themselves to be shaped by Jewish values and concerns. Some of these individuals are familiar with the tradition of Talmudic teaching, but do not regard it as normative in their lives. It is from this last perspective that I speak. Obviously, any reading t offer of the papal encyclical will represent only one view among many. In the remarks that follow I want, first, to outline several aspects of Centesimus Annus that I think would be welcomed and celebrated by someone tutored in the Jewish tradition of economic teaching and social responsibility. These are the features both traditions owe to their biblical heritage. Only after doing this will I turn to those aspects of the encyclical I find troubling, These aspects are not at the forefront of Centesimus Annus. They are most evident at those moments when the Pope seeks to place his teaching in historical perspective, and their presence would likely be detected only by one whose sensitivities about twentieth century history are rubbed raw. Journal of Business Ethics 12: 945--954, 1993. © 1993 Kluwer Academic Pubtisbers. Printed in the Netherlands.