The Nation - News from Nov. 12, 1985

A proposed pastoral letter by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops on the U.S. economy cannot unequivocally endorse capitalism and be true to Catholic social teaching, the letter’s chief architect said. Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee, speaking to 300 fellow bishops at their annual weeklong conference in Washington, said papal doctrine “has always been skeptical about the unfettered free market or ‘liberal capitalism’ solving all problems of equity and distribution.” Weakland added that “it is in the best American tradition to alter that free market system so that the benefits can extend to all.”