Seeing the second Catholic U.S. president stand with the workers outside the GM distribution center was a reminder of the once vibrant alliance between the Catholic Church and organized labor, writes Michael Sean Winters.
Michael Sean Winters: Organized labor and the Catholic Church have enjoyed a long and important relationship. As the AFL-CIO chooses Liz Shuler to lead its 11 million members, the alliance has never been more needed — both by the church and by the unions.
Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical on capital and labor is a foundational text of modern Catholic social teaching; it could be taught more often in seminaries or catechism classes, speakers at a May 12 event said.
A Catholic chaplain at General Motors Fort Wayne Assembly plant talks about her roles as both afflicted and comforter, and the evangelical churches mobilize to help the workers who have been on strike since Sept. 15.
As the first Catholic institution to agree to possibly certify a union of graduate students outside of a National Labor Relations Board process, Georgetown University sets a precedent for higher education and for religious schools — but still maintains that students are not "workers."
Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: When bishops and the bishops' conference disagree; Democrat Conor Lamb's chances in Pennsylvania; "Year of the Dog" greetings
Distinctly Catholic: There is no ambiguity about where the Catholic Church stands on unions, but I am guessing we'll hear more from the bishops about the cake-baking case.
