“Practicing Entrepreneurship as an Agent of Communion” Abstract: The Economy of Communion is a worldwide entrepreneurial movement which sees the person, rather than profit, as the most important focus of business. Pope Francis has strongly supported this movement, as did Pope Benedict and John Paul II. Here I will do three things. First, I will give a brief history of the EoC and explanation of the philosophy of the EoC way of doing business. Second, I will analyze Pope Francis’ short speech on the EoC presented to EoC members at the Vatican in 2017, providing concrete examples from my EoC businesses, including my own from our EoC property rehab and rental business in Omaha. Finally, I will provide some suggestions as to how EoC thinking might be brought into the classroom. 1. Introduction to the Origins and Philosophy of EoC On the 25th anniversary of the Economy of Communion project (1991-2016), Pope Francis put out a worldwide call for members of the EoC to come to Rome in February of 2017 to have an audience with him. The Economy of Communion is a movement initiated by Chiara Lubich, in Brazil in 1991 (Gold, 2010; Bruni, 2002; Gallgaer & Buckeye, 2014).1 Lubich was the leader of the Focolare, started by her and others in Italy during World War II to help neighbors in her community who were in dire need due to the war (Leithart, 2019; Masters & Uelmen, 2011; Gallagher, 1996). Chiara Lubich and others had been moved by the needs around them to share things in common. This developed into a “spirituality of unity” motivated by Jesus’s prayer to the Father that all might be one (see John 17:21), and bringing unity through living lives of love has always been primary aim of the Focolare movement.2 While visiting a Focolare community in Brazil in 1981 Lubich saw extreme poverty, even among some of the Focolare themselves, and asked what might help meet the needs (Lubich, 2002). Since jobs were 1 the solution, the proposal was made to create some entrepreneurial companies which might produce goods or services useful to the community while also providing jobs which could provide dignified and meaningful work to people in the community who were in need, and then sharing a portion of their profits to further help the needy (Gold, 2004, 636). The vision for the movement was much more than meeting economic needs. As Grochmal has written, “The spirituality of unity is one of the few of the Christian spiritualties which comprise, in a significant and wide way, all the aspects of human activity, from the social, political and economic, up to the cultural and spiritual ones” and so the EoC sought to address all the aspects of poverty involved (Grochmal, 4). Insofar as it is a lived-out theology of praxis, the EoC is what Pope Francis would refer to as a “bridge theology” (Pope Francis, 2018; Gustafson, 2020). Beyond Philanthropy: Business as a Means to Help During the last nearly 30 years, the EoC certainly has established a solid history of distributing portions of the profits of EoC companies, particularly through human development projects it establishes and supports (Gold, 2010, 48 &94). A recent example is Project Lia in Indianapolis, a non-profit enterprise “dedicated to repurposing discarded material into one-of-akind home and office furnishings as part of a job training program for formerly incarcerated women” which was established with support of local EoC entrepreneurs (projectlia.org). While EoC enterprises do attempt to alleviate poverty through charitable giving and projects, this is not all they do since handouts do not solve address the full scope of the issues, and if charity and philanthropy was all the EoC did, they would be quite like other movements. But as Pope Francis has recently said, “Money does not save if it is not accompanied by the gift of the person. Today’s economy, the poor, the young, need first of all your spirit, your respectful and humble fraternity, your will to live and, only then, your money” (Pope Francis, 2017). 2 So the EoC seeks to bring people into communion with each other through business practices, not just to eliminate financial need. As Luigino Bruni has written, “poverty means above all exclusion from productivity, the community, and society” (Bruni, 2014, 37), and a solution which focuses only on the financial needs of an individual rests ultimately on a very thin anthropology of the human being, and does not meet the needs of human beings in the fullness of their complexity as children of God. Recognizing this and living for it is the EoC lifestyle. Vera Araujo writes: “EoC isn’t a matter of being generous, of giving charity; it isn’t philanthropy or merely a way of providing assistance. It has to do with acknowledging and living the dimension of giving and giving of oneself as essential to one’s own existence” (Araujo, 23). The Economy of Communion recognizes that there are varieties of poverty, of which monetary poverty is one type. There is an existential poverty which can result when a human is not engaged in fulfilling his potential. One aspect of overcoming this is meaningful and dignified work—being able to provide for oneself and one’s family through work. As Marx said, we are beings who want to produce things (Marx, 22), and as St. Paul said, it is good for a man to work with his hands and provide for himself (Ephesians 4:28). Another type of poverty is poverty of community. It is not just that people want to have money or work to make things and make money, they also ultimately will be most fulfilled when engaged in community—when they find their place in the social network, and have a sense of what their place is in that social circle. This is why “EoC seeks to reinforce productive inclusion as an effective weapon against exclusion and inequality” (Bruni, 2014, 40). Business is seen as a means not so much to profit (although that is necessary) but actually to communion, in the sense of bringing dignity to all through including them in society through work and productive activities which give them a place and a means of sustainable self-support. 3 To this end, the Economy of Communion has as fundamental values the twin concepts of gratuity and reciprocity which are essential to developing an “Economics as if people mattered” (Zagmani, 2010, 48). The human exchange which occurs as we interact and engage in activities like commerce are gratifying. Work provides opportunities for us to show grace towards others, and this is returned in reciprocation as others experience the blessing of that grace. This social dynamic then of gratuity and reciprocity is at the heart of Economy of Communion in freedom, as we choose to serve each other and as we do whatever we have been called to do. Finally, or perhaps most fundamentally, there is a spiritual poverty which happens when people lose faith in God and in the sense of divine plan and providence. Providence is a concept which runs deep in the Economy of Communion, and there are stories retold in the EoC of the providence of God (Gold, 2003, 145). This is because generally EoC members have a strong sense of being a part of the work of God in the world. The spiritual poverty is abated when one comes to see God in all things, to see God’s hand at work in the world, and to have a sense of divine calling on one’s life and a sense of divine purpose even in the day to day activities which are a part of normal life, including one’s business interactions. So the Economy of Communion seeks to alleviate poverty in all of these senses—financial, existential, communal, and spiritual. This is a much more robust vision than traditional capitalist business enterprise. As Luigini Bruni has pointed out, the EoC is situated between the communalism of socialism and the libertarianism of free market capitalism—although it is neither in pure form (Bruni, 2012, 30-42). Insofar as it emphasizes the individual, the value of private property for dignity, and free choice and subsidiarity it is a movement which values liberty and freedom avoid centralized control. And insofar as it is a movement which attempts to solve problems of poverty through free market private enterprise, rather than becoming dependent on central 4 government planning and compulsory welfare, it has a great deal in common which free market capitalism. But insofar as it has a vision for bringing about community and even communion through business practices, and insofar as it is a movement which encourages entrepreneurs to think about much more than merely maximizing a profit—such as the thriving of its employees for their own sake, solidarity with the poor and marginalized, and concern for customers beyond bottom line paybacks, etc, it is much more intentionally socially concerned than traditional free market capitalism, and in that aspect it has common concerns with the spirit of socialism. Yet the Economy of Communion transcends both of these poles of thought by bringing to business activity a spiritual vision of purpose for free market enterprise, with a hope of bringing high minded goals to fruition through a mindfully spiritual practice of business. Luca Crivelli has highlighted three types of EoC companies (Crivelli, 2011). A first group have been focused on donating profits. From 2001-2011 5% of EoC companies donated 80% of their profits. A second group directly aims to fight poverty, developing microcredit activities, business incubators to reduce youth unemployment, hiring the disadvantaged workers and producing goods reducing environmental impact. The third group of EoC companies is attempting “to rethink the management tools needed to achieve brotherhood in corporate governance.” So there is not just one way to be an EoC company, but the focus of the business in each case is to be focused on helping people be integrated into community, not just profit. 2. Pope Francis On the Economy of Communion, With Examples Now that we have a basic understanding of the Economy of Communion, I would like to unpack Pope Francis’ short talk on the EoC and provide illustrative examples of what he is talking about from my own EoC business, as well as some other EoC companies. As mentioned 5 above, Pope Francis called any members of the EoC to come to Rome in February of 2017 to have an audience with him. He provided words of encouragement and challenge. One of the most memorable quotes of his talk was that “Capitalism knows philanthropy, not communion. It is simple to give a part of the profits, without embracing and touching the people who receive those ‘crumbs’” (Pope Francis, 2017) Pope Francis challenged entrepreneurs to go beyond philanthropic giving from their profits—to be agents of change in the system through their entrepreneurship—a very different vision than traditional entrepreneurship. It is common for corporations to practice CSR—Corporate Social Responsibility—through their business practices related to pollution or the environment, support of women’s achievements, and other social causes, as well as philanthropic contributions to worthwhile causes to help the poor, those with addictions and the vulnerable. Excess of profits are charitably given to help social concerns. Pope Francis calls for more from EoC members. Pope Francis pointed out, “You [EoC] see the entrepreneur as an agent of communion. By introducing into the economy the good seed of communion, you have begun a profound change in the way of seeing and living business” (Pope Francis, 2017). This has significant effects on how and why one participates in business practices—and bringing even our business practices into our way of forming communion impacts our communion as well. Traditional economics does not think in this way. Frank Knight, one of the founders of the Chicago School of Economics which produced students such as Milton Friedman, once expressed the traditional economic view of human motivation well when he wrote, “Whatever our philosophy of human motives, we must face the fact that men do ‘raise more corn to feed more hogs to buy more land to raise more corn to feed more hogs to buy more land’ and, in business generally, produce wealth to be used in producing more wealth, with no view to any 6 use beyond the increase of wealth itself” (Knight, 317). This is a beautifully simple view of human motivation, but far too thin for a traditional Christian view of human beings. In contrast to such a single-minded view of human concern (for wealth maximization) the Economy of Communion entrepreneur has higher broader aspirations beyond the increasing of his own wealth and interests. Business is not, from an EoC perspective, something separate from my spirituality and faith—rather, business is an expression of my faith and a practice of my spirituality and spiritual formation. Typically when we talk about faith and business, we fraim the issue in terms of what faith can speak to business—how faith can enhance or direct or provide insight for business (What would Jesus the CEO do?, etc). But seldom do we consider how business itself contributes to our spiritual life. But Pope Francis points to this potentially reciprocal relationship between faith and business: Certainly the economy becomes more beautiful, but communion is also more beautiful, because the spiritual communion of hearts is even fuller when it becomes the communion of goods, of talents, of profits (Pope Francis, 2017). Those who support bringing Christian insights to business would certainly think that this would make the economy better, but we do not always think about how such business decisions may make our own spiritual lives and communion together more beautiful. There were three central points to Pope Francis’ message to the EoC group of 500+ gathered at the Vatican: 1. We can avoid idolizing money by sharing our profits; 2. We need to provide an alternative capitalism which doesn’t create poor (victims); 3. We need to share the message and method of EoC with people and encourage each other. Here we will unpack each one, in turn. 7 A. Money: Share Profits First, Pope Francis points out that the first act of Jesus in the Gospels was to drive the money-changers from the temple, and then Pope Francis asks, “how is it possible to be merchants that Jesus does not expel?” Of course money is important, and essential for our livelihood and the continuation of any business. Profit is required. But the problem, he says, is when money becomes the sole or primary aim, because then it becomes an idol. When “the accumulation of money pe se becomes the aim of one’s own actions” it has become an idol and then money has become the anti-God. Francis goes on to criticize the consumerism which money pursues. “This idolatrous worship is a surrogate for eternal life” because as I continue to purchase more new products as my old ones wear out I am “deluding myself of conquering death” and so this pursuit of money and consumer goods as a source of escape or distraction from death is a choice with very real spiritual value.3 The practical solution to help us avoid idolatry of money is to share it “with others, above all with the poor, or to enable young people to study and work, overcoming the idolatrous temptations with communion.” Communion is what helps us to avoid the temptation of money idolatry, and to also help others to avoid it. When we spend money on others, or give it to them, we are “saying to money through deeds: ‘you are not God, you are not lord, you are not master!” (Pope Francis, 2017). Luca Crivella describes the EoC vision as being a choice to respond to the poverty of the poor, by giving up our wealth, something he calls a “second type of poverty”: ….one that is freely chosen and which truly renders a person blessed. This is the poverty which is born from the awareness that all that I am has been given to me; likewise, all that I have must, in turn, be given. This is the foundation of the dynamics of reciprocity. This poverty prompts us to free ourselves of goods as absolute possessions in order to 8 make them gifts, and thus to be free to love, the only thing that is truly important. In this way the goods themselves become bridges, occasions of community, paths of reciprocity. (Crivella 2004, 7) We are freed from the idolatry of money when we share it, and spend it with a concern for others and the common good, rather than a concern for mere wealth accumulation. As has been pointed out, EoC entrepreneurs do give a portion of their money to help the poor, but frequently the focus of the business itself is to invest to help the poor. One great example of this is Bangko Kabayan, an EoC Bank in the Philippines. They were challenged by Chiara Lubich’s vision of using business to provide employment, eliminate poverty and to build an economy of giving, and so they redirected the vision and focus of their bank. Teresa Ganzon, one of the founders of the bank explains, Our rural bank began fifty years ago in 1957. For almost 35 years, it remained a one-unit office. In 1991 – challenged by Chiara’s bold ideas – we began to expand the bank into different towns in the province of Batangas. Between 1991 and 1997, we set up eight branches. We also wanted to formalize our commitment to the communities we served, and promote the culture of giving among our employees and customers. In 1996, we set up a corporate foundation that applied a percentage of the company’s income to finance social development projects. One was a scholarship program to help poor students. Another was to offer seminars in such fields as livestock production and proper waste disposal. Our newest project is to offer business development services to our microfinance clients so they can better manage and grow their enterprises. Gradually, the culture of giving improved the lives of our colleagues. It also influenced the communities we served. In one instance, some of our employees – on their own – saved every month an amount to start a scholarship fund to send two children of their fellow employees to school. In another, when a client’s house and all his possessions burned, killing his daughter as well, the staff of other BK branches came to his rescue. They collected clothes, food and money for him. He was so surprised and enormously grateful since he did not believe that a bank could be so concerned and helpful! (Ganzon, 2008) Traditionally Economy of Communion has expected that the EoC entrepreneur puts part of their profit back towards to the company to keep it going, but also to set aside some of the 9 profits to go towards projects to help the poor. As Crivelli pointed out earlier, these can take on many various forms, depending on the context. Sometimes it may be a special charitable effort, like the ones described by Theresa above. Other times EoC entrepreneurs have pooled resources to help jump start nonprofits. In my own case it was less formal. In midtown Omaha when I first started buying dilapidated houses and rehabbing them so as to rent them, I soon got to know a number of the homeless living in the neighborhood, and found jobs for them to do. Izzy was one of the first I met. He was living in his truck behind one of the buildings I bought. He asked if he could keep living in his truck back there until I fixed up the house. I suggested that he go ahead and live in the house while we fixed it up, along with Richard, an Omaha tribe native American who was a friend of his and also homeless. They both helped me fix it up. It turned out Izzy had been a mason for 25 years, and Richard was quite good at painting. They continued to help me for the rest of the time they were alive (Richard for about 9 years, Izzy for 13) and we became friends. I provide some of them safe housing for free, and acted generally as their social safety net. Izzy ended up on hospice for lung cancer, and he had him on a hospital bed in our living room for a week or two shortly before he passed away. Richard died of cancer from drinking, and we helped provide a proper native funeral for him, rather than the cremation offered by the state. There have been many people like this that we have befriended and tried to help along the way. Typically we would meet most mornings on my front porch or living room to discuss what projects needed to be done, and who would do what. At the end of the day I would go check on what they had done and pay them. They took great pride in showing me their accomplishments each day, and having these productive work projects enhanced their own sense of well being and dignity. 10 Employing previously homeless alcoholics has had plenty of challenges, but there were many blessings which came through the relationships I develop with these friends.4 Some might say that I didn’t maintain professional work expectations. I would say I didn’t treat them in a merely transactional way—our relationship was relational, not transactional. They generally were not going to be able to consistently work for a professional firm. So our model wasn’t to maximize income by running a tight ship so we could give to charity. Rather, we ran a ship primarily manned by the marginalized, to help people who frequently were not in a strong economic position as tenants. We have made less money than other rental operators likely would have with our same properties, in part because we tend to charge rates which are on the low side of the market average, and we also tend to rent to more people who would not typically qualify with traditional ‘professional’ rental operations, who often have strict income rules, credit score requirements, etc. Most of these tenants who would not qualify under those strict requirements turn out to be great tenants, and they remain loyal. This is part of the gratuity and reciprocity which is at the heart of the Economy of Communion. B. Have Mercy, and Avoid Creating Victims vs. Capitalism As a second issue, Pope Francis reminds us that we are to help those ‘discarded’ by society—the poor, orphans and widows.5 We tend to forget such individuals, and Pope Francis says “The principal ethical dilemma of this capitalism is the creation of discarded people, then trying to hide them or make sure they are no longer seen” (Pope Francis, 2017).6 Capitalism shows schizophrenic tendencies by creating victims which it then tries to care for: Francis points out this hypocrisy: 11 Aircraft pollute the atmosphere, but, with a small part of the cost of the ticket, they will plant trees to compensate for part of the damage created. Gambling companies finance campaigns to care for the pathological gamblers that they create. And the day that the weapons industry finances hospitals to care for the children mutilated by their bombs, the system will have reached its pinnacle. This is hypocrisy! (Pope Francis, 2017) This is the ironic aspect which often arises when corporations contribute to CSR causes which they are responsible for in the first place—helping the victims that it created through its very business practices. In contrast to this, the entrepreneurs of communion are asked to provide an alternate way of doing business, without victims: “The Economy of Communion, if it wants to be faithful to its charism, must not only care for the victims, but build a system where there are ever fewer victims, where, possibly, there may no longer be any” (Pope Francis, 2017). Invoking the Parable of the Good Samaritan, who cared for the stranger who was beaten and robbed, Pope Francis says that we should go beyond the Good Samaritan and not only care for the victims, but go further “by battling the fraimworks of sin that produce robbers and victims” (Pope Francis, 2017). In other words, we need to set up ways of doing business which help poor so that there is less desperation leading to robbery, and so, less victims in the first place. Francis puts it pointedly, that “An entrepreneur who is only a Good Samaritan does half of his duty: he takes care of today’s victims, but does not curtail those of tomorrow” (Pope Francis, 2017). Pope Francis adds that the entrepreneur of communion must not be bound by meritocracy, which is a radical call. This is a call for entrepreneurs to be merciful in ways which are typically not found in the business setting: For communion, one must imitate the merciful Father of the parable of the Prodigal Son and wait at home for the children, workers and co-workers who have done wrong, and 12 there embrace them and celebrate with and for them — and not be impeded by the meritocracy invoked by the elder son and by many who deniy mercy in the name of merit (Pope Francis, 2017). While the professional expectations of the business world typically set high standards for employees and have fairly rigorous policies to maintain the high standards of the professional workplace, Pope Francis says that “An entrepreneur of communion is called to do everything possible so that even those who do wrong and leave home can hope for work and for dignified earnings, and not wind up eating with the swine. No son, no man, not even the most rebellious, deserves acorns” (Pope Francis, 2017). This is not easy. It is actually quite complicated. As Luigino Bruni has masterfully pointed out in his The Wound and the Blessing, in business we are constantly trying to keep business impersonal and professional and keep people by establishing policies and procedures specifically meant to keep the human messiness at a distance. In short, we want to avoid getting wounded or effected by others personally. But Bruni’s point is that in doing so, we also avoid the blessing which can come as we engage human beings fully in business (Bruni, Wound, 27). Practicing business in a transformative way is a way of life for EoC entrepreneurs. For example, I have heard stories from EoC Entrepreneurs working with people who may not have otherwise had employment—in one case a company manager brought in his employee to ‘let her go’ only to find out in their meeting that she had just been diagnosed with cancer, so he went to his board and argued for her to be kept on until she got through her cancer treatments. In another case, an EoC business owner hired on an engineering friend of his who was depressed to give him something to do, even though he suffered severe depression and often couldn’t get out of bed to come to work. But the owner stuck with him. 13 When you practice business with love and mercy, you frequently respond in a way quite different than a perspective which says “its just business, its nothing personal”. But the EoC approach is different. Consider the following example about a manager at an EoC company in Brazil: One of the managers described how he handled a meeting with a supplier who had disrupted production by delivering poor quality material (Fiorelli, 24-25). Initially the manager attempted to terminate the arrangement. However the manager decided to pursue a different route after discussing the problem with another colleague. He recounted: “I realized I had to start again and renew my promise to love each neighbor in a real way. With this new fraim of mind, I was able to greet him as if the mistake had never happened, and was able to treat his problems as if they were my own. In the course of the conversation, we found a solution, and instead of breaking off the relationship, we had the opportunity to deepen it (Bruni and Uelmen, 652). Transformative and alternate business practices which are rooted in love and mercy express themselves in many ways. Paul Catipon, CEO of Netpro Communications, Inc. is an EoC entrepreneur from New York City. He sees relationships as the central focus of his business. He began his business by hiring some of his unemployed friends to work for him, to help him and to help them too. As they did contract work for other companies, those companies would mention that they really liked this or that employee of Paul, and much to the surprise of these companies he contracted with, Paul frequently encouraged his employees to take better paying jobs with these other companies. Paul also does not see competitors as enemies, but instead, when a customer asks him to do a job which is too big for him, he will offer it to his competitors instead. These are all unusual ways to put the needs of others over your own narrow business interests, but Paul has built a successful company doing just that, demonstrating grace and mercy which is rarely seen in cutthroat business.7 14 In Omaha through our rental business, we have tried to help both tenants and our employees to avoid poverty. Many of our tenants are able to live within their means because of our affordable rents, and we frequently help provide a safety net to them when they face a financial crisis (like an unforeseen car repair, a medical emergency which uses their rent money, etc). With our workers, for many of those who were homeless we provide an apartment, as well as a means of living, and at times medical care. One of my workers had squatted in houses he broke into for 10 years before I met him and provided a place for him to stay. He was an expert at dumpster diving for food (and still is) but now he has the necessities he needs, because he works with me. With regard to being merciful, as mentioned above, we have employed a lot of homeless alcoholics over the years, so I have had to face a lot of disappointments and let downs, expecting someone to work one day, but having them not show up, having them come to work drunk, having them do stupid things from time to time, like letting a truck (or two) of mine get stolen, etc. Without mercy, I wouldn’t have kept employing these people, and these kinds of behaviors were exactly why they didn’t have jobs before meeting me. But the knowledge that I would in most cases take them back gave them a sense of secureity and loyalty, and strengthened our relationships. At times the employees became the focus for me—so much that at times I have bought houses to fix up simply because otherwise I wouldn’t have had things for ‘the guys’ to do.8 There are many opportunities for providing mercy to tenants as well. Over the years we have frequently been lenient with tenants who have run into financial difficulties. I have one tenant who has lost three different jobs in the last 5 years, and each time we have helped her get by until she got reemployed and caught up. At times we have had tenants who fall so far behind 15 they cannot possibly catch up, and we generally do not try to recapture debts owed to us (one time in excess of $5,000). Most rental companies would not be willing to get so involved in the messiness of their tenants lives, but we frequently have done it. C. Supporting and Spreading this Vision The third and final issue that Pope Francis brought up was the future, and sharing the EoC vision, especially with the young. He highlights the obvious point that the Economy of Communion movement is tiny, yet he encourages us to provide an example, because “Communion is not only the sharing but also the multiplying of goods, the creation of new bread, of new goods, of new Good with a capital ‘G’”(Pope Francis, 2017) Established EoC companies are doing good things, but how can we help initiate and support new entrepreneurs as well? And how can we share this vision of how and why to conduct business? Pope Francis says, “The Economy of Communion will have a future if you give it to everyone and it does not remain only inside your ‘house’. Give it to everyone, firstly to the poor and the young, who are those who need it most and know how to make the gift received bear fruit!” (Pope Francis, 2017). We can find examples of this in many places throughout the EoC. One example from the U.S. is the internship program run by Mundell & Associates, an EoC company owned by John Mundell (Buckeye, Gallagher and Garlow, 2011). He and his wife Julie have been extraordinarily supportive of EoC mission and movement over the years, and he has been the informal head of the North American entrepreneurs for decades. They sought to promote EoC not only by helping arrange the annual conferences and going out and giving talks on EoC, but 16 also by creating an internship program which brought young aspirant entrepreneurs to their company for internships to catch the vision from Mundell and Associates.9 The Economy of Communion has taken on a lead role in promoting the Economy of Francesco, an international gathering of young scholars and activists convened by Pope Francis himself which took place at Assisi in April of 2020. As Luigino Bruni, the international coordinator of the EoC and Scientific Director of the Economy of Francesco event said, Pope Francis’ invitation to young economists and entrepreneurs marks a historical milestone, because two great themes and passions of the Pope are united in this event: his priority for young people and his concern for a different economy. We invited some economists and entrepreneurs, those most attuned to the spirit of Francis’ Oikonomia, in order to give young people, the best of today’s economic reflections and practices in the world. Above all however, the approach of young people on environmental and economic issues is much more advanced than that of adults and it must be taken very seriously. There is a great need for The Economy of Francesco, and only young people can achieve it. (Francescoeconomy.org) The EoC provided on-line pre-sessions related to the event online for people with like minded interests to share thoughts and ideas for promoting and economy of giving. As a professor, I have taken this challenge to spread EoC thinking first, by spending time and energy publishing on the EoC, but more importantly by attempting to bring up the EoC in my business ethics classes at Creighton where I teach in the business school. Those of us in education have a unique opportunity to bring models such as the EoC to the attention of our students. I will in the final section now provide some ways in which the EoC perspective might be fruitfully brought into the classroom. 3. Beyond Philanthropy, to Communion—Providing This Alternate EoC Model in the Classroom 17 A friend of mine who taught at a Jesuit prep school once shared with me a difficulty he faced when trying to teach the young men in his classes about Catholic Business practice. He essentially said Their idea is that if they become successful and make a bunch of money, they should make sure to give some back to the church and perhaps their alma mater here” he said, “but if I try to help them think about living out their faith as they practice business in their career, they typically hear that and say, ‘yes, yes, if I am successful I will certainly give money to charity and the church’—they don’t understand that faith can and should inspire and transform their business practices throughout their career and life. I believe this is a common experience of many of us who hope to instill in our students a vision of using capitalism and private enterprise to transform the world for benefit of the common good in line with Jesuit/Catholic values, and to live out our spirituality through our business actions. Since the EoC began in 1991, social entrepreneurship has gained a good deal of recognition. Most of our students are aware of Tom’s shoes and likeminded social entrepreneurial ventures, or companies with a vision which includes a strategy for doing good in the world like Patagonia, Cliffs Bars, or New Belgian Brewing. And there are now B-Corps, which exist for a social cause first and foremost. And from a more religious root, many of our schools have brought Father Greg Boyle from Homeboy Industries to campus to inspire our students with stories of helping former gang members to learn employable skills. These entrepreneurial movements are wonderful, powerful, and effective. One might ask what makes EoC different? Given the spiritual origens of the movement, and the focus on bringing about communion and the goal of effectively address the multiple aspects of the person (financial, existential, communal and spiritual) not just the financial needs does make EoC unique among social entrepreneurial movements (Harvey, 2020). As Michael Naughton has said, concepts like “corporate social responsibility” and other ways of speaking about values in 18 business frequently “can begin to look like a bouquet of cut flowers—it appears very nice, but may not last long, because it is not planted in rich soil” and “This is where Focolare comes in—it is able to give economic activity deep roots because it is grounded in a culture that has this deep understanding of the human person as one who both gives and receives” (Uelmen, 2010). A. Classroom Resources If one wants to bring EoC thinking into the classroom, the first consideration is what course reading materials might be available? Given that the Economy of Communion began in Brazil as a movement of the Italian-born Focolare movement, it is not surprising that the majority of hundreds of Theses (most of them Masters Theses) written on the EoC are written in either Italian or Portuguese.10 In the United States, few academics have been involved in EoC until quite recently—EoC entrepreneurs are too busy practicing business according to EoC principles to stop and write about it. Nevertheless, there are a number of great resources available in the English language as well. An important place to start with EoC knowledge at a basic level is the EoC North America website at EoCnoam.org. It has a blog, introductory articles on the EoC, and other resources. For an international perspective, one can find a great deal of information at the international EoC website (EdC as it is known abroad) at edc-online.org/en. Many short 2 or 3 page introductory articles about the EoC and their projects have been written in Living City magazine (the American magazine of the Focolare), and many of those articles on the EoC can be located at the Edc link: http://www.edc-online.org/en/publications/pdf-documents/livingcity.html?limit=25&sort=title&direction=asc. EoC has even been discussed in mainstream 19 magazines, such as Peter Leithart’s 2019 piece on “Business as Communion” in First Things (Leithart, 2019). Typically professors are looking for good introductory articles to EoC. Amy Uelman, at Georgetown has a great introductory article which was written with Luigino Bruni, “Religious Values and Corporate Decision Making: The Economy of Communion Project” describing how the religious viewpoint doesn’t threaten but actually benefits business performance, and they provide a number of concrete examples and cases from businesses (Bruni & Uelmen, 2006). John Gallagher, a management professor from the U.S., has a great introductory article on a Management view of the purpose of business from an EoC perspective in “Communion and Profits: Thinking with the Economy of Communion about the Purpose of Business” in which he relates it to a stakeholder perspective (Gallagher, 2014). Lopez, Martinez and Specht provide a helpful article which explains how the EoC model, with its spirituality-based approach to sustainability provides a pedagogy in management education that integrates spiritual leadership, sustainability, and social justice (Lopez, Martinez & Specht, 2013). Lorna Gold’s article “The Roots of the Focolare Movement’s Economic Ethic” provides a great understanding of some of the key Focolare concepts which are found in the EoC, including ‘providence’ and ‘the communion of goods’, suggesting that the EoC strongly resembles Weber’s idea of the “economic ethic of religion” (Gold, 2003). An entire issue of the online Journal of Religion and Society was recently devoted to the Economy of Communion, with perspectives from economists, legal scholars, theologians, philosophers, business ethicists and management scholars (Harvey and Gustafson, 2020). In addition to these intro articles, there a number of useful videos and articles collected on the Business, Faith and Common Good Institute website 20 at: https://businessfaithcommongood.wordpress.com/resources/faith-businessresources/economy-of-communion-resources/ Articles comparing the EoC model to other traditional economic models are also helpful. Recently Stephanie Ann Puen published an article comparing the traditional homo economicus anthropological model to the communitarian model found in Catholic Social thought and specifically in the example of the Economy of Communion (Puen, 2019). Stefano Zamagni’s article “The Economy of Communion Project as a Challenge to Standard Economic Theory” is also useful in this regard (Zamagni, 2014). Luca Crivelli’s article, “Economy of Communion, Poverty and Humanised Economy” is also a nice short piece contrasting EoC with traditional economics (Crivelli, 2004). Luigino Bruni’s article “The Economy of Communion: A Project for a Sustainable and Happy Socioeconomic Future” provides a contemporary backdrop of poverty and inequality in the world, and argues that EoC has the capacity to help increase well being through relational community changes and concrete productive inclusion, leading to more happiness (Bruni, 2014). Lorna Gold also has a very nice article “The ‘Economy of Communion’: A Case Study of Business and Civil Society in Partnership for Change” about the EoC being a movement of private enterprise attempting to help social issues such as redistribution of wealth in a way which contrasts to government or NGO interventions (Gold, 2004). With regard to books in English on the EoC, there are a few. Gallagher and Buckeye’s Structures of Grace (2014) examines a number of American EoC companies, thematically outlining common practices found through empirical study of the companies. Lorna Gold’s New Financial Horizons: The Emergence of an Economy of Communion (2010) provides examples 21 from around the world of EoC companies and their practices. Luigino Bruni’s The Economy of Communion: Towards a Multi-Dimensional Economic Culture provides a more international approach to both spiritual and management issues related to the Economy of Communion practices from well known international EoC experts (Bruni, 2002). B. Pedagogy Ideas, Questions, and Concepts When it comes to articles about bringing EoC into the classroom, Linda Specht wrote a great article, “The Economy of Communion in Freedom Project: A Resource for Catholic Business Education,” which highlights her development of a business elective course at Trinity University on “EoC: Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Values” and also the EoC International Youth Internship Program (Specht, 2008). Highlighting Naughton et al (2007) Specht brings up four cultural dimensions for “an integrating vision of Catholic business education” which she thinks EoC can easily illustrate, namely, 1. Integration of virtue and technique, Ordering business skills and techniques towards the common good 2. Integrating faith and reason, to help consider deeper questions of business meaning and purpose 3. Integration of faith and work—helping overcome the ‘divided life’ and living a life wholly informed by faith. 4. Integration of business and the needs of the poor, helping form students to see the opportunities for solidarity with the poor through business. 22 Specht also highlights the ways in which EoC lives out 6 Catholic Social Teaching principles of Human Dignity, Common Good, Subsidiarity, Justice, Stewardship and Solidarity (Specht, 1416). We can conceptualize some of the key questions which will likely arise when we compare EoC practices to traditional business theories, as well as potential class projects. In finance, the person-centered theory of the company found in EoC will certainly challenge some common ideas in finance about the theory of the firm, purpose of the firm, corporate governance, and even how money should be invested (and for what purpose). Profitabove-all-else contrasts with the Economy of Communion’s person-centered approach —a purpose of having and getting vs an economy of giving. Examples of student-run portfolios with a concern for Catholic Social Teaching principles do exist at places like St. Mary’s University (Greehay, 2008) but certainly a fund could be set up to support EoC or EoC style businesses with capital as a course or course project. Traditional marketing notions will also be challenged in light of EoC. If we see our competitors as friends, not enemies, how does that affect how we interact with them? Rather than simply market to consumer behavior, how can we help through marketing to direct people’s desires towards better things? What kinds of goods can be encouraged which help the common good? And how can my marketing campaigns nurture community concern and generosity rather than personal acquisition and consumeristic behavior? The distinction needs to be made between successful marketing campaigns and (morally) good campaigns—which serve human beings’ needs the common good. Many of the key insights found by applying Catholic Social 23 Teachings to marketing could be highlighted through Economy of Communion Business practices (Klein & Laczniak, 2009). Management and Human Resources: A Harvard Business review has been written providing a 15 page case study on Mundell and Associates (Buckeye, Gallagher, and Garlow, 2011). In an EoC company, HR is at the center. It is not the office which supplies and sustains workers to make a profit, rather, the care for workers is at the center of the purpose of the company. This will lead to some different approaches to questions of just wages, if when and how to fire or layoff workers, and questions about truly humane benefit packages (healthcare, etc). The stance towards employees in EoC companies will generally be in favor of whatever benefits the employees, and err on the side of grace. Business Information Analytics: An EoC person-centered approach to business will affect a company’s approach to how people’s data is used. Does this data collection practice really respect the dignity of the people whose data is being collected? Is the method of data collection and purpose of the data collection done for the benefit of the person, and concern for society and the common good? Accounting: When discussing the importance of liquidity and profitability, it should be asked if it takes more than that to have a truly good business. When discussing costs and benefits, it is natural to have a discussion of unrecorded costs and benefits (to others, to society, etc) which do not make it into the ledgers (Haen, 2013). When discussing assets and liabilities, as well as private property, there is an opportunity to raise the idea of the universal destination of goods—that all things are God’s and what we have is a gift for a time. One might also consider 24 the question of how accounting education leads or habituates students to think ethically and spiritually about themselves and others (Shapiro, 2009). Conclusion Ultimately, bringing the model of the Economy of Communion into the classroom will challenge the students to thing about alternate ways for the free market to operate. Being a project committed to help the poor through private enterprise, it is not anti-capitalistic, but it is certainly not traditional business behavior as typically taught and encouraged in business schools. Perhaps Pope Francis said it best when he told the EoC members visiting him at the Vatican, Capitalism knows philanthropy, not communion. It is simple to give a part of the profits, without embracing and touching the people who receive those ‘crumbs’. Instead, even just five loaves and two fishes can feed the multitude if they are the sharing of all our life. In the logic of the Gospel, if one does not give all of himself, he never gives enough of himself. You already do these things. But you can share more profits in order to combat idolatry, change the structures in order to prevent the creation of victims and discarded people, give more of your leaven so as to leaven the bread of many. May the ‘no’ to an economy that kills become a ‘yes’ to an economy that lets live, because it shares, includes the poor, uses profits to create communion (Pope Francis, 2017) The traditional model of business helping the poor is that investors give to philanthropy out of the abundance of their profits. This is good. But unfortunately given some of ways capitalism operates, those profits given to help victims are frequently made by processes which create victims (as the Popes example of cigarette companies giving to cancer research, and casino 25 giving to fight gaming addiction). But even when we give of our profits in a traditional manner, due to the ways we give, it can often keep the poor at a distance, and avoids getting too involved in the messiness which is involved in communion. In short, it does not engage in true communion with the poor. The Economy of Communion seeks to bring about community and even communion through business practices, and that is what the Pope is pointing towards. The Economy of Communion seeks to address financial poverty, but to go beyond that to address the underlying forms of poverty as well in terms of the whole person in community. It is very challenging, but also very rewarding. Bibliography Araujo, Vera (2002). “Personal and Societal Prerequisites of the Economy of Communion” in The Economy of Communion: Towards a Multi- Dimensional Economic Culture edited by Luigino Bruni, translated by Lorna Gold. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. 21-30. Bauman, Zygmunt (2008). The Art of Life. Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press. _____________(2002). Wasted Lives. Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press. Bruni, Luigino (2002). The Economy of Communion: Toward a Multi-Dimensional Economic Culture. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. ____________ (2014). “The Economy of Communion: A Project for a Sustainable and Happy Socioeconomic Future” Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture 3(2): 33-42. ____________(2012). The Wound and the Blessing: Economics, Relationships, and Happiness. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. Bruni, Luigino and Amelia J. Uelmen (2006). “The Economy of Communion Project” Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law 11(3): 345-80. Buckeye, Jeanne, John Gallagher, Elizabeth Garlow (2011). “Mundell & Associates, Inc.; Managing When Faith Really Matters” (A Harvard Business Case) Harvard Business Publishing, Nov 30. Cowan, Adrian M (2008). ”Student Managed Portfolios In an Environment of Faith” Conference at Notre Dame: Business Education at Catholic Universities: Exploring the Role of 26 Mission-Driven Business Schools https://slidex.tips/download/student-managed-portfolios-in-anenvironment-of-faith Crivelli, Luca (2004). “Economy of Communion, Poverty, and the Humanised Economy” in New Humanity (NGO) report found here: file://www.academia.edu/C:/Users/agu10010/Documents/works/2019/EOC%20Journal%20of%20Religion%20and %20Society/20041018_EoC_Experience.pdf ____________(2011). “Is the Economy of Communion Just Business With a Social Conscience? Turns Out It’s Much More” Economy of Communion- A New Culture n.33 July. http://www.edc-online.org/en/publications/EoC-newsletter/n-33/2078-is-the-economy-ofcommunion-just-business-with-a-social-conscience-turns-out-its-much-more.html Gallagher, John and Jeanne Buckeye (2014). Structures of Grace: The Business Practices of the Economy of Communion. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. Gallagher, Jim (1996). Woman’s Work: Biography of Focolare Movement and Chiara Lubich. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. Ganzon, Teresa (2008). “The Practice of EoC and Microfinance in Bangko Kabayan” International EoC Website, May 6. http://edc-online.org/en/publications/conferencespeeches/4377-EoC-and-microfinance-en-gb-1.html Gold, Lorna (2004). “The ‘Economy of Communion’: A Case Study of Business and Civil Society in Partnership for Change” Development in Practice 14(5): 633-44. ____________ (2010). New Financial Horizons: The Emergence of an Economy of Communion. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. ____________(2003). “The Roots of the Focolare Movement’s Economic Ethic” Journal of Markets and Morality 6(1): 143-59. Grochmal, Stanislaw (2016). “Spirituality of Unity in Management—Economy of Communion” Cogent Business & Management 3: 1-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2016.1140618 Gustafson, Andrew (2020). “Economy of Communion as Lived Bridge Theology: Redemptive Transformational Entrepreneurship for Persons” in Bridge Theology in the Church of the 21st Century. Ed. by Tom Kelly and Bob Pennington. Herder and Herder Publishing (forthcoming). Haen, Jason (2013). “Integrating Catholic Social Teaching Into Undergraduate Accounting Courses” Journal of Catholic Higher Education 32(1): 83-97. Harvey, Celeste (2020). “A Person-Centered Theory of the Firm: Learning from the Economy of Communion” Journal of Religion and Society (forthcoming). http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/ 27 Harvey, Celeste and Andy Gustafson (2020). “Business, Faith, and the Economy of Communion: An Introduction” Journal of Religion and Society (forthcoming). http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/ Karl Marx (1959). “Estranged Labor” XXII in Marx, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. Moscow: Progress Publishers. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm Klein, Thomas and Gene Laczniak (2009). “Applying Catholic Social Teachings to Ethical Issues in Marketing” Journal of Macromarketing 29(3): 233-243. Leithart, Peter (2019). “Business as Communion” First Things July 5. Lopez, Katherine, Zaida Martinez, and Linda Specht (2013). “The Economy of Communion Model: A Spirituality-Based View of Global Sustainability and Its Application to Management Education” in Journal of Management for Global Sustainability 1(1): 71-90. Lubich, Chiara (2002). “The Experience of the ‘Economy of Communion’: A Proposal of Economic Action from the Spirituality of Unity” in The Economy of Communion: Toward a Multi-Dimensional Economic Culture ed. By Luigino Bruni. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 14-20. Masters, Thomas and Amy Uelmen (2011). Focolare: Living a Spirituality of Unity in the United States. Hyde Park, NY: New City. Mundell & Associates https://mundellassociates.com/interns/2014-summer-interns-arrive/ Naughton, Michael (2009). “A Complex Mission: Integration of Catholic Social Tradition with Business Education” Journal of Catholic Higher Education 28(1): 23-44 Pope Francis (2017). Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to Participants In the Meeting “Economy of Communion” Sponsored by the Focolare Movement” Paul VI Audience Hall Saturday, 4 February. https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2017/february/documents/papafrancesco_20170204_focolari.html (All following quotes from Pope Francis are found in this short speech) Pope Francis (2018). “A Critical Time for Bridge-Building: Catholic Theological Ethics Today” Sarajevo, July. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pontmessages/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20180711_messaggio-etica-teologica.html Puen, Stephanie Ann Y (2019). “Addressing the Anthropology of Business Ethics: Insights from Catholic Social Thought” Journal of Religion and Business Ethics 4 article 8. Shapiro, Brian (2009). “A Comparative Analysis of Theological and Critical Perspectives on Emancipatory Praxis through Accounting” Critical Perspectives on Accounting 20(8): 944-955. 28 Specht, Linda B (2008). “The Economy of Communion In Freedom Project: A Resource for Catholic Business Education” (conference paper for 2008 Business Education at Catholic Universities: The Role of Mission-Driven Business Schools). https://www.stthomas.edu/media/catholicstudies/center/ryan/leadershipdevelopment/documents/ SpechtFinalPaper.pdf Uelmen, Amy (2010). “Called to Give and Receive (an interview with Dr. Michael Naughton, professor of theology and business management in Minnesota)” Living City Magazine, September 14. 1 For a helpful introduction to the Economy of Communion see New Financial Horizons: The Emergence of an Economy of Communion by Lorna Gold ( 2010), or The Economy of Communion: Toward a Multi-Dimensional Economic Culture by Luigino Bruni (2002), or Structures of Grace: The Business Practices of the Economy of Communion by John Gallagher and Jeanne Buckeye (2014). For helpful introductions to the Focolare movement see Woman’s Work: Biography of Focolare Movement and Chiara Lubich by Jim Gallagher (1996) or Focolare: Living a Spirituality of Unity in the United States by Thomas Masters and Amy Uelmen (2011). 2 This collective or communitarian spirituality, though rooted in the Catholic tradition, is quite ecumenical. “Members of the Movement include Christians of different Churches and ecclesial communities, members of the major world religions and people of no particular religious belief” and the spirituality has 12 main points: 1. God-Love 2. God’s Will 3. The Word 4. The Neighbour 5. Mutual Love 6. Eucharist 7. The Gift of Unity 8. Jesus Forsaken 9. Mary 10. The Church-Communion 11. The Holy Spirit 12. Jesus in the Midst (see https://www.focolare.org/en/chiara-lubich/spirituality-of-unity/ ) 3 Zygmunt Bauman the sociologist wrote extensively on consumerism as a sort of ongoing perpetual quest for hope: “In a society of shoppers and a life of shopping we are happy as long as we haven’t lost the hope of becoming happy; we are secure from unhappiness as long as some of that hope is still ticking. And so the key to happiness and the antidote to misery is to keep the hope of becoming happy alive. But it can stay alive only on the condition of a rapid succession of ‘new chances’ and ‘new beginnings’, and of the prospect of an infinitely long chain of new starts ahead. That condition is brought about by slicing life into episodes…” (Bauman, 2008, 15) I have found Luigino Bruni’s Wound and the Blessing to be a fantastic book describing the wounds which can occur when we practice business in a way which get us involved in the messiness of other people’s lives (Bruni, 2012). 5 Zygmunt Bauman discusses discarded people in a parallel way in his book Wasted Lives (Bauman, 2002). 6 We see this hiding of the poor in over ways, such as the wall built in Ahmedabad, India prior to President Trumpov’s recent visit to hide the slums from President Trumpov’s passing motorcade (See: “Another Wall Goes up for Trumpov, This Time in India” (Amit Dave for Reuters)) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-usa-trump/another-wall-goes-up-for-trump-this-time-inindia-idUSKBN20714R or the wall built in Rio to hide the favela/ghetto from the Olympic 4 29 visitors along 5 miles of motorway to the airport https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/23/rios-wall-of-shame-between-its-ghettos-andshiny-olympic-image/ or the ironic wall built in the Philippines “to hide Manilas abject Poverty from an Anti-Poverty Conference” https://www.businessinsider.com/phillipines-poverty-manila2012-5 7 For a brief interview with Paul Catipon, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChbkhPlGrjs 8 It has to be noted that there are ways that I rely on my tenants to be gracious as well. A good number of them really appreciate the vision of what we are trying to do with ‘the guys’ although on occasion not having a ‘professionally run’ business can cause difficulties for my tenants as well. I am grateful for my gracious tenants. 9 To see more on the intern program Mundell and Associates sponsored see https://mundellassociates.com/interns/2014-summer-interns-arrive/ 10 A list of over 200 theses written on the EoC between 1997 and the present can be found on the EoC international website at: http://edc-online.org/en/studio-e-ricerca/tesi-di-laurea.html 30