Rerum Novarum in Australia: "Putting the common good back into the Commonwealth"

Australian Senator John Madigan

As we've seen in our reading so far of Rerum Novarum, one of the key ideas is that citizens -- both business owners and their employees -- and the State should cooperate for the common good. Injustice results when one element is favored over the other. This idea still "has legs" in our contemporary world, and it animated a lecture presented by Australian Senator John Madigan when he spoke recently during the 2012 Rerum Novarum Oration at Australian Catholic University.

The Rerum Novarum Oration is an annual event sponsored by the Office of Justice and Peace of the Melbourne Archdiocese, to commemorate Pope Leo's encyclical as the encyclical "that formed the foundation of the Church’s social doctrine in modern times." In addition to Senator Madigan, Dr Matthew Tan, Lecturer in Theology and Philosophy at Campion College, Sydney, also gave a keynote address.

Click here to read transcripts of the two speeches or listen to the podcasts.