Moralny aspekt kredytu bankowego w świetle katolickiej nauki społecznej

Abstract

In the presented article the author tries to show the evolution of the social and moral thought of the Catholic Church concerning bank credit. First of all he presents how the issue of the loan is evaluated in the Bible, which is necessary base for further considerations. Then the author focused on the problem of usury in the teaching of the Doctors of the Church (e.g. John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Ambrose, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas), in the formal Acts of the Synods and Councils (especially in the Lateran, Lyon and Vienne councils) as well as in the social teaching of the Popes, (e.g. Vix pervenit of Benedict XIV, Rerum novarum of Leo XIII and address of John Paul II to the directors and members of the banking sector). For a long time ‒ up to the 19th century ‒ taking an interest on a loan was strictly forbidden. The interpretation of the Bible and the social teaching of the Church encouraged Christians to interest-free borrowing of money. Nowadays in the market economy to pay an interest on a bank credit is not against the Christian morality. In the meantime the expansion of the economic activity and development of the credit institutions has caused that money has a new function; it is commonly used for production of goods and services. Thus, when the money is invested it gives the owner the right to a just interest. However, when the rate of interest is too high it becomes the usury and is condemned by the Church. These days the usury takes the new form of unfair terms of trade when developed countries exploit the poor ones. It often results in high level of international debt of some countries, especially in Africa. And finally, the article aims to identify how to counteract the effects of usury. It gives some positive solutions adapted to varied credit terms in different parts of the world, e.g. the idea of social credit in Canada, the LETS system in the countries of North America, the credit unions in Great Britain, the Fund against usury in Italy, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative and the system of “microcredits” in the third-world countries.