Labor Encyclicals Should Apply to Church Workers

For more than a century, popes have preached to the world the wisdom of collective bargaining. But for decades, those ringing affirmations of the right of workers to organize have been muffled in U.S. chancery offices.

The latest example of church doublespeak on labor issues comes from Bishop James T. McHugh of the Camden, N.J., diocese, where elementary school teachers start at a whopping $16,700 a year. The pay ranges to $22,600 a year, but only after someone has taught in the schools for at least 20 years (see story, page 3).

Ironically, McHugh was all over the news last week as the rather aggressive American defender of Vatican teaching on sexuality and abortion during the U.N. …

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Publication information: Article title: Labor Encyclicals Should Apply to Church Workers. Contributors: Not available. Magazine title: National Catholic Reporter. Volume: 30. Issue: 41 Publication date: September 23, 1994. Page number: 16. © 2009 National Catholic Reporter. COPYRIGHT 1994 Gale Group.

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