A collection of short essays by Acton writers, click a link to jump to that article:

Amazon chief: Liberation theology keeps my people poor by Joseph Sunde A bait and switch at Peter’s Pence? by Andrew Vanderput The uneasy conscience of a fair trade fundamentalist by Jordan J. Ballor

Amazon chief: Liberation theology keeps my people poor

Joseph Sunde, Acton Institute

As the recent Synod of Bishops from the Pan-Amazonian region gathered, a local chief voiced his objections to liberation theology. Jonas Marcolino Macuxí, chief of the Macuxi tribe, told the National Catholic Register that a “dictatorship” of liberation theologians has kept indigenous people in poverty.

“Beginning in 1980, the tendency has been to see any kind of development in the Amazon – roads, big projects, etc. – as part of this idea that progress is bad”, he explained. “Until the 1980s, the military regime had a positive view of development, but as military rule ended, there was specifically an element that said progress is bad.”

Though the indigenous peoples’ struggle is undeniable, there is a tendency to blame markets and romanticize the very features pound their suffering. According to Marcolino, many would prefer forts and stability that e from economic modernization, never mind the corresponding social improvements. “These liberation theologians are promoting the idea that the Indians who still live in a primitive way are very happy”, he says. “But that’s not true. It’s false. We are not living in paradise. It’s a very hard life.” The article notes that Marcolino “was baptized Catholic but became Protestant, partly because of the state of the Catholic Church in the region.”

When asked directly if “a free-market economy is the way to e this,” Marcolino heartily agreed:

Yes, exactly; we should be allowed to develop our economy, because the region is very rich. All the natural resources are there. But in the Indian reserves, you cannot touch them, and that’s to the detriment of the people who live there. They [those who wish to keep them primitive] have neutralized reason. It’s obvious those things should be explored, but we’re not allowed to do it. We’re not allowed to use our intelligence.

Marcolino’s perspective offers a healthy challenge to the typical myths about the region: social, economic, environmental, and otherwise.

A bait and switch at Peter’s Pence?

Andrew Vanderput, Acton Institute

A Wall Street Journal article on the Vatican’s main charitable appeal landed a bombshell in the midst of the holiday giving season. The Roman Catholic Church conducts an annual collection known as Peter’s Pence, which is promoted as supporting mercy ministries and serving those most in need. Shockingly, the Journal has reported that for at least the last five years “as little as 10%” of the approximately $55 million raised annually through this popular appeal has actually gone to charitable work. The rest has gone “toward plugging the hole in the Vatican’s own administrative budget.”

The Journal goes on to explain that this is permissible. Indeed, the website for Peter’s Pence mentions that the collection “also contributes to the support of the Apostolic See and the activities of the Holy See, ” which “consists of the central administration of the Catholic Church and the papal diplomatic network around the world.”

That’s probably news to most people who have donated. People who have given to the collection, at least through the Peter’s Pence website, would rightly be confused and outraged that the vast majority of their money was going to administrative purposes. The preponderance of the language and images used on the site emphasize its charitable dimensions. The website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also states, “The purpose of the Peter’s Pence Collection is to provide the Holy Father with the financial means to respond to those who are suffering as a result of war, oppression, natural disaster, and disease.”

Administrative costs are necessary to run churches and charitable organizations. The popular charity accountability organization Charity Navigator states that no more than 15 percent of a charity’s revenue going toward administrative costs is acceptable. With 90 percent of its collections used for administrative costs, however, Peter’s Pence falls far short of this ideal.

Given the great disparity between how it is marketed and what the vast majority of the collection is actually used for, Vatican officials have a great deal of explaining to do.

The uneasy conscience of a fair trade fundamentalist

Jordan J. Ballor, Acton Institute

In The Christian Century, Rev. David Mesenbring, an early advocate of fair trade policies, reveals that he thinks there’s good reason to doubt the efficacy of the movement:

I was an early adopter of fair trade. Prior exposure to rural poverty in Africa had sensitized me to the plight of farmers in the global economy. Searching for a fair trade logo on my purchases of coffee and chocolate made me feel generous – as though I had sacrificed a bit of my economic interest to improve the lives of poor farmers. Convincing an entire congregation to sell fair trade goods during its coffee hour multiplied that generous feeling.

That “generous feeling” is as far as many religious fair trade advocates get. But once Mesenbring moved beyond the vague intentions behind fair trade, questions emerged:

I’d never considered how much fair trade status costs farmers, nor the logistical impossibility of inspecting every small farm. In fact, I’d never given any thought at all to pliance gets monitored.

Mesenbring notes plexities of global trade, and concludes:

Today, an ever-evolving international fair trade movement makes it hard to know what standards are being certified by which mark. Worse still, research suggests fair trade isn’t rescuing farmers in the Global South who are struggling to survive the rapacious forces of global markets. In fact, fair trade’s biggest winners might well be the consciences of its consumers, along with retailers and movement promoters.

Mesenbring’s encounter with the economic realities of international trade and religious advocacy is worth considering. His narrative could be read as a realization that global capitalism cannot really be reformed. Or it could be read as what happens when good intentions meet economic realities.