To whom do Material Goods Belong?

A Pope speaks out

"Material goods have been created by God to meet the needs of all men, and must be at the disposal of all of them, as justice and charity require.

"Every man indeed, as a reason­gifted being, has, from nature, the fundamental right to make use of the material goods of the earth, though it is reserved to human will and the juridical forms of the peoples to regulate, with more detail, the practical realization of that right.

"Such an individual right cannot, by any means, be suppressed, even by the exercise of other unques­tionable and recognized rights over natural goods.

"National economy, which is the fruit of the activities of men combining their work in the national community, tends to do nothing but to ensure, without interruption, the material conditions in which the individual life of the citizens will be able to develop fully.

"Where this is obtained, and so obtained as to endure, a people will be, strictly speaking, rich, because general material well-being and, consequently, everybody's personal right to use the earthly goods, will thus be realized according to the Creator's will.

"The economic wealth of a nation does not properly consist in the abundance of goods judged by a sheer material computation of their worth, but it consists in what such an abundance does really and effectively mean and provide as a sufficient material basis for a fair per­sonal development of its members.

"If such a just distribution of goods were not to be effected or just imperfectly ensured, the true end of the national economy would not be achieved, opulent though the abundance of available goods might be, since the people would not be rich, but poor, as it would not be invited to share in that abundance.

"Obtain, on the contrary, that this just distribution be efficiently realized on a durable basis, and you will see a people, though with less considerable goods at its disposal, become and be economically sound.

"People today are inclined to appraise the wealth or the poverty of the peoples with scales and according to merely quantitative criteria, such as space and the abundance of goods.

"If, on the contrary, the end of the national economy is appreciated according to its exact value, this end will become a guiding light for the efforts of statesmen and their peoples; it will enlighten them into entering spontaneously a way that will not require continual sacrifices in goods and blood, but will bear fruits of peace and general material well-being."

Pius XII, Radio message, Pentecost Sunday, 1941

Previous chapter - An economic system to fight and replace