Reviewing Papal Economics

Each summer, First Things hosts a Dominican student brother from the Province of Saint Joseph as a summer intern. The first student brother hosted was Br. Gabriel Torretta, O.P. in 2011, who entered the Dominicans in 2008 having studied pre-modern Japanese literature at Columbia University. Currently studying for the priesthood, Br. Gabriel is also a frequent writer at Dominicana , and has recently reviewed Fr. Maciej Zi?ba’s new book , Papal Economics: The Catholic Church on Democratic Capitalism, from Rerum Novarum to Caritas in Veritate .

Br. Gabriel had this to say about Fr. Zi?ba’s new book:

All too often, questions about the Church’s politics end up like the  trompe-l’oeil  images that vex freshman philosophy students. Is it a duck or a rabbit? An old lady or a young girl? Is Pope Francis a fascist or a Marxist? Is Catholic social thought capitalist or socialist? Is it all in the eye of the beholder?

These questions do not have a satisfying answer because they are the  wrong questions . In his new book  Papal Economics: The Catholic Church on Democratic Capitalism, from Rerum Novarum  to  Caritas in Veritate,   Maciej Zi?ba (pronounced Zhiemba) sets out to introduce the right questions to ask about the Church, man, economics, and the State.

Read the rest of Br. Gabriel’s review here , and also check out Fr. Michael P. Orsi’s review if you just missed it on our On the Square .

But don’t just let two book reviews convince you to check out Fr. Zi?ba’s book. Let the man himself: Fr. Zi?ba will be giving a lecture in our New York office next week, November 13. RSVP here or check out this post for more details.