THE HOLY SEE, SOCIAL JUSTICE, AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW: ASSESSING THE SOCIAL MISSION OF THE CHURCH IN THE GATT-WTO SYSTEM

Man, as a person, is superior to the state, and consequently the good of the person transcends the good of the state. The philosopher Jacques Maritain developed his political philosophy thoroughly informed by his deep Catholic faith. His philosophy places the human person at the center of every action. In developing his political thought, he enumerates two principal tasks of the state as (1) to establish and preserve order, and as such, guarantee justice, and (2) to promote the common good. The state has such duties to the people because it receives its authority from the people. The people possess natural, God-given right of self-government, the exercise of which they voluntarily invest in the state. One cannot agree any less with Maritain. During her many years of theological reflection and writing on modern economic issues, the Catholic Church has confirmed that the constitutive purpose of the economy is to serve the common good. The economy is legitimate in the Catholic Church's tradition only if it meets the material needs of every member of the human family and the moral demands of justice and solidarity. In other words, the economy should work to serve the needs of the people and not the other way around. One can understand the rationale behind the teaching of the Catholic Church especially as enunciated in the papal encyclicals and exhortations, the Catholic Social Doctrine, and other teachings of the Magisterium. The whole essence of the Catholic social teaching is to safeguard and promote recognition of, and respect for, human dignity. The Catholic Church does not just teach. She reaches out to the whole world as the central part of her universal mission to announce the Gospel message as a light to dispel any darkness that bedevils the dignity of the human person. God created the world for the common good and development of all human beings. The dignity of the human person is a central issue in the Church's universal mission. The Catholic Church evangelizes the whole world by reaching out to all the nooks and crannies of the earth for that purpose. She reaches out to governments of the world, to every individual, organization, and institution to proclaim the Good News to every soul. The Holy See puts up a presence in the international arena for the purpose of raising the moral voice of the Catholic Church on issues that concern the human person. This mission takes the Holy See to the United Nations and other international and regional organizations. The focus here is the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), hereinafter referred to as "GATT-WTO system." Through its presence at the World Trade Organization, the Holy See gets the opportunity to raise its prophetic voice in defense of the dignity of the human person on economic, social, and political issues. A very important concern that needs to be addressed more is whether the Holy See, the representative body for the Catholic Church, is as effective as it ought to be in raising its moral voice on issues within the GATT-WTO system which may drastically affect the true and full realization of God-given human dignity. Obviously, the Holy See mounts some influence in the international arena, but whether its influence is effective enough is another question