Catholic moralists must begin to ask questions about money gained from slave labor or returns on stock invested in these slave labor operations. The Pope asks this question. The Holy Father visited Poland this summer and spoke forcefully about justice and solidarity, putting together ideas from a number of documents on Catholic social teaching to call capitalists to a more ethical approach. He spoke so strongly that some European newspapers suggested after his visit that some capitalists run the risk of excommunication. Every time we write about capitalism, small business people or retired sales people complain that we are criticizing them.
Small businesses are quite distinct from the global market.
Our response is that we are merely trying to be good Catholics. Prior to Pope John Paul II's recent visit to Poland, two young Polish youths murdered another youth for the article of clothing that they wanted. This heinous act may have ignited the Pope's response to the present practice of capitalism in Poland, first in regards to the tremendous focus of capitalism to consume, possess and to have at any cost, and second, the danger of capitalism's focusing on and making profit at the expense of everyone, especially the worker who participates in manufacturing products. Workers must be paid just wages. Beware of a semblance of exploitation.