Profit Is Not the Main Purpose of Business

Many in our society hold a common misconception of the real purpose of business.  This misconception is that the sole reason for business is to make a profit.  Similarly, many also believe that profit is an evil, in some cases maybe a necessary evil, but still an evil.  In the following video clip from the book launch for A Catechism for Business, Dr. Abela discusses the purpose of business and the Church’s views on profit.  
 

Profit is not the purpose of business.  It is legitimate and required, but it is not the purpose of business.  The purpose of business is to do some good for some group of people.  Pope John Paul II said in Centesimus Annus, 35, “The purpose of a business firm is not simply to make a profit, but is to be found in its very existence as a community of persons who in various ways are endeavoring to satisfy their basic needs, and who form a particular group at the service of the whole of society.”

Follow this link or watch the video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI-q-kIIfrM

 

The Call to Work in Business Is Not an Amoral Calling

A Catechism for Business and the new School of Business and Economics at the Catholic University of America were featured in a National Catholic Register post by Peter Jesserer Smith.  The article examined the school’s mission to transform the way people think about business from a notion of business is an amoral pursuit to an understanding that business is a moral calling which should be grounded in ethics and moral responsibility.  

 

"CUA’s School of Business and Economics is challenging businesses large and small in the 21st-century economy to anchor their business practices in the Catholic Church’s social teachings. Late last month, the school’s dean, Andrew Abela, along with co-editor and professor of moral theology Joseph Capizzi, unveiled the new Catechism for Business, a handbook for businesspeople who want to know the Church’s social doctrine and their obligations to work for a just society.

Abela told the Register in an interview that the whole purpose of the Catechism for Business and the School of Business is ‘to combat this notion that business is amoral."

You can read the entire article by visiting this page.

Dr. Abela and Dr. Capizzi Interviewed in the National Catholic Register

Peter Jesserer Smith at the National Catholic Register interviewed Dr. Abela and Dr. Capizzi about A Catechism for Business. They discussed the need for a business catechism in the modern business world and how the book can be used by business leaders.

You can read the full interview by following the link below.

https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/a-free-market-gets-its-long-overdue-catechism