CREATING A CHRISTIAN CULTURE IN THE WORKPLACE

About 30 men from a wide variety of professions gathered at Arnold Hall Conference Center in Pembroke, Massachusetts over the November 10-12, 2017 weekend to analyze three business case studies in which they were challenged to apply the principles of Catholic Social Doctrine to real world business situations. Featured speakers included Joe Patrnchak who spoke on the significantly positive impact a program of Servant Leadership can have on earnings, employee retention and market capitalization. Bill Bowman, Dean of the School of Business and Economics at the Catholic University of America, spoke on the university's efforts to respond to Pope Francis' call for lay Catholics to "go the peripheries to help those in need". Fr. Michael Barrett, pastor of St. Agnes Church in New York City, led participants through the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the degree to which a person can participate in immoral or simply immodest business settings. Participants came away with a renewed appreciation for the wisdom of the Church's social teachings as well as a practical approach to assessing how to deal with difficult ethical issues in the workplace.