A Sociotheological Approach to Catholic Social Teaching : The Role of Religion in Moral Responsibility During COVID-19

This book introduces Catholic social teaching (CST) and its teaching on the common good to the reader and applies them in the realm of public health to critically analyze the major global issues of COVID-19 that undermine public interest. It uses the sociotheological approach that​ combines the moral principles of CST and the holistic analysis of modern sociology and also utilizes the secondary literature as the main source of textual data. Specifically, it investigates the corporate moral irresponsibility and some unethical business practices of Big Pharma in the sale and distribution of its anti-COVID vaccines and medicines, the injustice in the inequitable global vaccine distribution, the weakening of the United States Congress’s legislative regulation against the pharmaceutical industry’s overpricing and profiteering, the inadequacy of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) law enforcement system against corruption, and the lack of social monitoring in the current public health surveillance system to safeguard the public good from corporate fraud and white-collar crime. This book highlights the contribution of sociology in providing the empirical foundation of CST’s moral analysis and in crafting appropriate Catholic social action during the pandemic. It is hoped that through this book, secular scholars, social scientists, religious leaders, moral theologians, religious educators, and Catholic lay leaders would be more appreciative of the sociotheological approach to understanding religion and COVID-19. “This book brings into dialogue two bodies of literature: documents of Catholic social teaching, and modern sociology and its core thinkers and texts...The author does especially well to describe how taking ‘the sociotheological turn’...will benefit the credibility and dissemination of Catholic social thought.” - Rev. Fr. Thomas Massaro, S.J., Professor of Moral Theology, Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University, Berkeley, California. Acknowledgments Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 The Nature of Social Action and the Christian Faith 1.3 The Nature of CST as a Moral Guide 1.4 CST as Moral Theology 1.5 Social Action and Social Change for the Common Good 1.6 Social Structure, Agency, and the Common Good 1.7 Social and Structural Sins 1.8 The Overall Objective of the Book 1.9 Significance of the Book to Sociotheological Turn 1.10 Brief Summary of the Chapters 1.11 Summary References 2 Introducing Catholic Social Teaching and the Role of Sociology in the Catholic Church 2.1 Defining Catholic Social Teaching (CST) 2.2 The Nature of CST 2.3 The Intent of CST 2.4 Major CST Documents 2.5 CST’s Basic Principles 2.5.1 Community and the Common Good 2.5.2 Human Dignity and the Social Nature of Human Person 2.5.3 Human Rights and Responsibilities 2.5.4 The Dignity of Work and Rights of Workers 2.5.5 The Moral Principles of Solidarity and Subsidiarity 2.5.6 The Preferential Option for the Poor 2.5.7 The Social Dimension of Private Ownership 2.5.8 The Moral Principle on the Stewardship of Creation 2.5.9 The Role of the State in the Promotion of the Common Good 2.5.10 Promotion of Peace 2.6 Why CST Is Underappreciated and Underpracticed and Sociology 2.6.1 CST and Normative Pluralism in Society 2.6.2 Problematic Enforcement of CST Moral Principles 2.6.3 The Limits of CST’s Moral Prescriptions 2.7 Sociology and CST 2.8 CST’s Absolutism and Sociology’s Relativism 2.9 Searching for a Common Ground for CST and Sociology 2.10 Illustrating the Contribution of Sociology to CST 2.11 Summary References 3 Catholic Social Teaching and Sociological Perspectives on the Common Good 3.1 The Concept of the Common Good 3.2 Philosophical and Theological Views on the Common Good 3.3 Sociology and the Common Good 3.3.1 CST on the Common Good 3.4 Communal Levels of the Common Good 3.5 The Common Good and Solidarity 3.6 The Common Good and Preferential Option for the Poor 3.7 The Essential Elements of the Common Good 3.8 The State and the Attainment of the Common Good 3.9 Summary References 4 Catholic Social Teaching, Corporate Moral Responsibility of Big Pharma, and COVID-19 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The CMR of Business Firms and CST 4.3 CST on Distributive Justice 4.4 Big Pharma’s CMR in Patenting COVID-19 Vaccines 4.4.1 Unethical Patenting 4.4.2 Disrespecting the Moral Intention of Vaccine Inventors 4.4.3 APA and the Unjust Distribution of Vaccines 4.5 Civil Society and Enforcing the CMR of Big Pharma 4.6 Conclusion References 5 Catholic Social Teaching, Corporate Moral Responsibility, Disaster Capitalism, and Remdesivir Drug 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Disaster Capitalism and CST on Capitalism, and the Common Good 5.2.1 Disaster Capitalism and Government Subsidies to Big Pharma 5.2.2 The Purpose of Business and Profits and the Common Good 5.2.3 Common Good and the State’s Role in the Economy and Market 5.3 CMR, Non-State Intervention in Medical Markets, and Overpricing 5.4 The Case of Gilead and Remdesivir**** 5.4.1 The CMR of Gilead Sciences and the Pricing of Remdesivir 5.4.2 Unethical and Unaffordable Pricing for Remdesivir 5.4.3 Non-Intervention Policy of Government in Pricing 5.4.4 Conclusion and Recommendations References 6 Catholic Social Teaching, Charity, and Justice in the Global Vaccine Distribution During COVID-19 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Theoretical Foundation 6.2.1 CST on Christian Charity and Justice 6.2.2 CST and Distributive Justice 6.3 COVID-19 Vaccines as Public Health Goods 6.4 Summary References 7 Catholic Social Teaching on the State and the Common Good: Factors Weakening US Congress’s Regulation for Big Pharma During COVID-19 7.1 Introduction 7.2 CST on the Common Good and State Regulation 7.3 CST on Corruption 7.4 Legislative Corruption 7.5 Major Factors Facilitating Legislative Corruption 7.5.1 Campaign Funds and Legislation for Big Pharma 7.5.2 Conflict of Interests Among US Legislators 7.5.3 Revolving Door Practice 7.6 Conclusion References 8 Catholic Social Teaching, Corruption, the World Health Organization’s Law Enforcement Power, and COVID-19 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Corruption as Abuse of Power 8.3 CST on Corruption 8.3.1 Nature of Corruption 8.3.2 Protecting the Common Good and Fighting Corruption 8.4 The WHO’s Law Enforcement Against Corruption 8.5 Legal Pluralism in Corruption Norms 8.6 Conclusion References 9 Catholic Social Teaching, Global Public Health, and White-Collar Crime During COVID-19 9.1 Introduction 9.2 The Ethical and Sociological Foundation 9.2.1 CST, the Common Good, and Public Health 9.2.2 CST and ANT: Seeing Human and Nonhuman Environment as One 9.3 Major Forces Weakening the Human Public Health Surveillance 9.3.1 Medicalization of Pandemics and COVID-19 9.3.2 The Limited Enforcement Functions of the WHO 9.3.3 The Impact of Globalization on Public Health Governance 9.4 Conclusion and Recommendations References Correction to: Catholic Social Teaching, Corruption, the World Health Organization’s Law Enforcement Power, and COVID-19 Correction to: Chapter 8 in: V. O. Ballano, A Sociotheological Approach to Catholic Social Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7075-7_8