No. At least, we’re not supposed to be. Officially speaking, the Catholic Church does not prescribe or recommend any particular economic system, but rather sits in judgement of them all, based on the teachings of the gospel. While the Church has been critical of capitalism, it has never condemned the capitalist system outright. However, in regards to the economic philosophy of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Marxism, socialism and communism), the Church has made outright condemnations of that.1 Catholics cannot be Marxists, socialists or communists. Not even so-called “democratic socialism” is permitted for Catholics.
The problem centers around private property, and the right of every human being to own it, which the Catholic Church fully recognizes. Marxism condemns this right. Socialism restricts it. While communism forbids it.
The Catholic Church recognizes that every person has the right to acquire private property (house, land, cattle, tools, business, etc.) and use it as a means to provide for one’s self and family. Marxism, on the other hand, encourages the sin of covetousness (“class envy” or “class warfare”), violating the Tenth Commandment (“You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.”), condemning the ownership of private property. Socialism is Marxism-in-action, working to restrict the ownership of private property, and is therefore unjust, legally validating theft, a violation of the Seventh Commandment (“You shall not steal.”). Communism, which is ultimate-socialism-in-action, forbids the ownership of all private property, making theft and covetousness the foundation of society, turning the whole Ten Commandments upside-down.
When we combine this with the bizarre sexual ideology of Marxism, a violation of the Sixth Commandment (“You shall not commit adultery.”), which seeks to abolish the traditional family,2 and the Marxist notion that children should become wards of communities rather than parents, we have a socio-economic system that is antithetical to everything the Catholic Church teaches. This is why we have over a century of papal encyclicals and statements condemning the ideology of Marx and Engels. No Catholic can subscribe to it and still call himself a Catholic in good standing.
For more information on this, see…
Against Communism, Socialism and Marxism
In Defense of Distributism
Distributed Capitalism: A Catholic Economic Proposal
Building an Ownership Economy
- Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum 4, 5, 14, 15, 17; Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magistra 34; Pope Paul VI, Octogesima Adveniens 31; Pope St John Paul II, Centesimus Annus 12
- Communist Manifesto, chapter 2, page 24
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