A New Year's statement Friday by a group of Catholic bishops criticizing the capitalist system rekindled labor-management rivalries and touched off heated controversy over the separation of church and state.
The social affairs office of the Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops appealed to governments to combat unemployment before inflation and blasted wage-control programs as benefitting only the wealthy.
'The needs of the poor have priority to the wants of the rich,' the statement said. 'The rights of workers are more important than the maximization of profits.'
Referring to the message of 'Jesus, who was himself a worker,' the bishops urged a greater role for organized labor in economic policy making.
'They must have been in touch with God,' Canadian Labor Congress president Dennis McDermott said. 'Whether or not I agree with their statements, they have an important role to play in the economic life of the country.'
International Woodworkers of America spokesman Clay Perry, said labor had gained an 'important ally.'
'I'm surprised that for decades people who describe themselves as Christians haven't done this before. I think this kind of statement will help labor.'
But business leaders, while not denying the bishops' right to speak, felt the church leaders were beyond their depth.
Bill Hamilton, president of the Employers' Council of British Columbia, who will soon join the Macdonald commission on the economy, said he was 'astonished' at the statement.
'The church has every right to comment on society but they should do it in a better informed manner,' he said. 'The statement has a high moral character but from a pragmatic view they are totally out of touch with reality.
'It sounds as if we are dealing with people whose morality and economics are from the sixteenth century.'
Robert Harrison, president of the Montreal Board of Trade and a co-founder of the lay English-Speaking Catholic Council of Montreal, described the bishops as 'a bunch of dreamers.'
William Dimma, president of the real estate firm A.E. LePage Inc. said he found the bishops' statement 'a little bit disturbing' because 'you can't have one (jobs) without the other (profits).'
'As long as we're in a free enterprise system, jobs will be created through investment,' he said, which come from corporate profits.
The controversy even extended into the church itself with Cardinal Emmett Carter rebuking the bishops' statement. He stressed it emanated from a few bishops and did not represent the church's view.
'I have serious reservations concerning some of the material and attitudes contained therein,' he said. 'I get a little uncomfortable when we get into the practical details on how the economy should be run.'.
Winnipeg Archbishop Adam Exner said the statement could anger wealthier members of the church.
But, he added, 'Christ himself said things which at times the wealthier people didn't particularily like.
'When there is a question of justice or morality involved, we have to throw stones in a certain direction and whoever happens to be there gets hit. And if the rich happen to be in that area, that's just too bad.'
