But consumers whose closets are full of cheap clothes from Bangladesh are also morally responsible, theologians told The Catholic Register.
There鱿鱼视频app no free pass to guilt-free deals when you go shopping, said Fr. Francis O鈥機onnor of London, Ont.鱿鱼视频app St. Peter鱿鱼视频app Seminary.
鈥淚t鱿鱼视频app a human act, so we are morally responsible,鈥� O鈥機onnor said.
The priest inspected his own closet and immediately found two pairs of pants from Bangladesh, as well as items from Honduras, Indonesia and China.
鈥淲hat鱿鱼视频app at stake here is to what extent you are co-operating with certain kinds of evils,鈥� said Regis College moral theology professor John Berkman.
If we know or can make a reasonable guess that working conditions in Bangladeshi garment factories are unjust and even dangerous, then the purchase 鈥渨ould be a kind of formal co-operation with wrongdoing and that would be wrong,鈥� Berkman said.
There are cases of invincible ignorance where the individual would not be personally or subjectively guilty, though the evil remains just as evil, said O鈥機onnor. But in a globalized world we鈥檝e got lots of ways of knowing what鱿鱼视频app going on, he said.
Church teaching about the moral evil of unjust work conditions and the role of unions in protecting workers has been repeated by every pope for more than a century, O鈥機onnor points out. Recent teaching points out the responsibility of consumers.
Pope John Paul II鱿鱼视频app 1981 encyclical Laborem Exercens highlights the role of the 鈥渋ndirect employer.鈥�
Governments, international trade partners and consumers can be responsible for unjust work conditions, said Pope John Paul.
鈥淭his is not to absolve the direct employer from his own responsibility, but only to draw attention to the whole network of influences that condition his conduct,鈥� he wrote.
In Caritas in Veritate Pope Benedict XVI specifically mentions the social responsibility of consumers.
鈥淚t is good for people to realize that purchasing is always a moral 鈥� and not simply economic 鈥� act. Hence the consumer has a specific social responsibility, which goes hand-in-hand with the social responsibility of the enterprise,鈥� wrote Benedict in 2009 (emphasis in the original).
On May Day, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, Pope Francis drew attention to the Rana Plaza catastrophe.
鈥淭his is what you call slave labour,鈥� the Pope said. 鈥淢any social, political and economic systems have chosen to exploit the human person鈥� not paying a just wage, not offering work, focusing solely on the balance sheets 鈥� the company鱿鱼视频app balance sheets 鈥� only looking at how much I can profit. This goes against God.鈥�
In the Rana case, the responsibility of retailers who use their muscle to demand lower prices and tighter deadlines is clear, said Maquila Solidarity Network executive director Bob Jeffcott.
鈥淭he primary responsibility has to be with the companies, including some of the buyers,鈥� he said.
But the Church- and labour-sponsored network doesn鈥檛 think consumers are off the hook.
鈥淲e have a responsibility not to ignore or try to hide from ourselves the conditions under which workers are making these $5 t-shirts,鈥� Jeffcott said. 鈥淲e have at the very least a responsibility to ask the company, 鈥榃hat are you doing to ensure that this t-shirt is made under safe conditions鈥� and demand some real answers.鈥�
Loblaw executive chairman Galen Weston has vowed to continue sourcing clothing from Bangladesh and expand its program of inspections and ethical requirements in contracts to include building safety.
鈥淚鈥檓 troubled by the deafening silence from other apparel retailers on this,鈥� Weston told reporters. 鈥淭hirty companies were having goods manufactured, but only two have come forward to speak publicly.鈥�
Ultimately the hope for change in Bangladesh has to come from the Bangladeshi government which is responsible for labour law and building codes and enforcement, said Jeffcott.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that we as consumers can make fundamental change. But we can contribute to change,鈥� he said.
It鱿鱼视频app too easy to blame the economy or globalization, said O鈥機onnor.
鈥淚t鱿鱼视频app not just controlled by impersonal laws of nature,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut these are real, human decisions that are being made.鈥�