Thanks to my Catholic economist friend John Larrivee (see Dr. Larrivee’s guest post on fair trade here) for teaching me about St. Homobonus. St. Homobonus is the patron saint of business people. He was a wealthy textile merchant in Cremona, Italy during the late twelfth century, sometimes depicted with a bag of money in his hand. He believed God had blessed him with business skills so that he would be able to help the poor of his community. He cared deeply about the common good.
Pope John Paul II invoked the spirit of St. Homobonus in his letter to the bishop of Cremona in 1997. John Paul II wrote that “Homobonus’ image emerges as that of a businessman engaged in the cloth trade and, while involved in the market dynamics of Italian and European cities, conferred spiritual dignity on his work: that spirituality which was the hallmark of all his activity.”
The Pope admired how St. Homobonus approached his work and his concern for the common good, and recalled that the Second Vatican Council (in Lumen Gentium, 39) had called on followers of Christ in all walks of life to live their faith in their work. Pope John Paul believed this holiness in work ”is exactly what we need in the climate of unremitting transition that we are experiencing: we need it for developing the present positive premises and for responding to the serious challenges deriving from the profound crises of civilization and culture, which influence the collective ethos.”
Yesterday, President Obama removed Rick Wagoner as CEO of General Motors. I can’t say I’ve been a big fan of Mr. Wagoner’s leadership of GM over the last few decades, but I’m even less of a fan of the President of the United States assuming a direct role in the affairs of business corporations.
It seems that GM is now bankrupt, or is headed in that direction. Bankruptcy will hopefully free up resources that are now trapped in GM’s unproductive projects. If sold off, these resources could be put to better uses elsewhere in the private sector. The process of decline, free movement of resources, and dynamic growth in new or renewed industries has characterized much of American history.
The question is, and perhaps here is an opportunity for a little prayer to St. Homobonus, does President Obama believe that the private sector serves the common good better than government? St. Homobonus, please help freedom, limited government, and holiness in our work flourish in our time as it did in yours.
You are being completely absurd. Well you know we don’t live in the 11 hundreds any more. Over about a thousand years or so you might expect some change. The true question is: Was that change good?… The answer: YES! Why would any one want to live during feudal times? The Gov’t was set up so terribly that sickness spread quickly and invaders suck as the vikings were easily able to penitrate the small counties’ boarders. don’t sit here and tell me we would be better off with small gov’t control. Guess who runs the Gov’t? The People. If we want a better system then lets work harder on it get more involved in the Gov’t and controll a system that so many believe control them. Look at France. Their Gov’t controll is very large. Universal health care coverage for all! but the people are stronger than their Gov’t in France. Nearly every month there is some sort of protest making sure the Gov’t is doing it’s job. The Gov’t should be afraid of it’s people not the other way around. That way Gov’t can serve for the well being of all citizens(health coverage, huge Gov’t) without people getting screwed into comunism or fealing they have been jipped. It has nothing to do with the old feudal system.
Thanks Jim for your comment. I agree that governments respond to the people’s wishes, but there is variety in the effectiveness of this response. Some governments are very responsive, others not so much. I read in the Economist magazine recently that a German family applied for political asylum in the United States because they were fined heavily by German government. Their offense? Homeschooling their own children. It seems to me this is a violation of the principle of subsidiarity, and the state should not assume the primary role of parents in education. But what if German citizens agreed that homeschoolers should be punished? Then, that is a problem.