Religion & Law

It's rare for a specific project to get a shout-out in a papal enclyclical, but here's an exception:  As John Allen connects the dots here and here, this paragraph of Caritas in Veritate: 

46. When we consider the issues involved in the relationship between business and ethics, as well as the evolution currently taking place in methods of production, it would appear that the traditionally valid distinction between profit-based companies and non-profit organizations can no longer do full justice to reality, or offer practical direction for the future. In recent decades a broad intermediate area has emerged between the two types of enterprise. It is made up of traditional companies which nonetheless subscribe to social aid agreements in support of underdeveloped countries, charitable foundations associated with individual companies, groups of companies oriented towards social welfare, and the diversified world of the so-called ?civil economy? and the ?economy of communion?. This is not merely a matter of a ?third sector?, but of a broad new composite reality embracing the private and public spheres, one which does not exclude profit, but instead considers it a means for achieving human and social ends. Whether such companies distribute dividends or not, whether their juridical structure corresponds to one or other of the established forms, becomes secondary in relation to their willingness to view profit as a means of achieving the goal of a more humane market and society. It is to be hoped that these new kinds of enterprise will succeed in finding a suitable juridical and fiscal structure in every country. Without prejudice to the importance and the economic and social benefits of the more traditional forms of business, they steer the system towards a clearer and more complete assumption of duties on the part of economic subjects. And not only that. The very plurality of institutional forms of business gives rise to a market which is not only more civilized but also more competitive. 

is referring specifically to the Focolare Movement?s ?Economy of Communion? project.  For more information about the Economy of Communion project, here is a link for an overview essay I co-authored with Italian economist Luigino Bruni, who has written extensively about the project, and here is the Economy of Communion's international website.  The July 2009 issue of the Focolare's monthly magazine, Living City includes a series of articles about the project.