Mass attendance and Catholic affiliation have been eroding steadily since the 1970s for all income brackets, but the sharpest decline has been among the two bottom economic quartiles.
Pope Francis, who enacted new transparency laws in June covering contracts for the purchase of goods, property and services for both the Roman Curia and Vatican City State offices, welcomed the experts and said their work “is particularly dear to my heart.”
The chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, has said that companies are using the excuse of the pandemic to take advantage of their workers.
While cautioning against blind reliance on “unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market,” Pope Francis sees the creative work of business as fundamental to building a just society.