Ministering to the Pioneers of Prosperity

Abstract

Economic development does not come from NGOs, the World Bank, or foreign governments. Instead, it is built on self-reliance and local communities linked with networks of productivity, or what Pope John Paul II called “circles of exchange.” Business growth is needed for prosperity: investment and trade, not more government-to-government grants and aid. Economic development and prosperity come from within a society itself. Local small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) must be empowered to ignite prosperity. SMEs provide high growth with good and stable jobs, local tax revenues, and locally generated philanthropic activity, which means that financially poor Churches and charities do not need to go abroad to find donations. In this chapter, the author proposes a specific way of thinking about entrepreneurship and Catholic ministry for business leaders that reinforces and reflects the magisterium’s social doctrine and Pope Benedict’s recent encyclical Caritas in Veritate. The author further proposes the development of a Catholic SME ministry effort that provides spiritual formation, business training, and access to networks of productivity for the best Catholic entrepreneurs.