About 20 years before his academic career, Andrew Abela left a consulting job when he was tasked with laying off 10,000 middle managers from a large bank. Abela was unsure what his newly rediscovered Catholic faith had to say about such a charge.
“I couldn’t find any guidance anywhere,” said Abela, who went on to study theology and earn a Ph.D. in business ethics. He is the founding dean of the Busch School of Business and Economics at the Catholic University of America.
“At the center of all my adult life has been my Catholic faith, my relationship with Christ, and how one lives out that relationship, particularly in the business world,” said Abela, 55, a charter member of the Northern Virginia Chapter.
At Legatus Summit East 2021, Abela will speak on “Faithful Catholic Business in a Time of Moral Hyper-Confusion.” He recently spoke with Legatus magazine.
What will you speak on at the Summit?
I’m going to speak about why I think we’re in the mess we’re in right now with a lot of societal chaos, and how in our businesses there is a sort of confused morality about what is right.
It used to be that many people thought business was amoral, which as Catholics we don’t agree with. But those very same people now seem to think business should be crusading for things like gay rights. There’s this new morality, if you will, that’s trying to force itself on everybody. I’ll try to diagnose that and to talk about where it’s coming from, what it means, and what the associated risks are — not just for Catholics, but everybody.
What caused the shift from an amoral view of business to “woke” capitalism?
It’s hard to diagnose exactly, but nature abhors a vacuum. The pretense that business is morally neutral has left business open to be re-moralized, but in the wrong way. The other part, it can be argued, is the growing interest in Marxism in certain areas, and this is a reflection of that.
What have your experiences with Legatus been like?
Before my academic career, I was the managing director of the Marketing Leadership Council of the Corporate Executive Board. I joined Legatus at that time first as an At-Large member, and then I was a charter member of the Arlington Chapter (now Northern Virginia Chapter) 17 years ago. I’ve had positive experiences as a member. My wife last year was president of our chapter and did a terrific job.
I love visiting and speaking at chapters. At the Busch School, the reason we exist is to teach young men and women to become faithful Catholic business leaders. So it’s a treat for me to go to Legatus meetings around the country and meet the kind of people we want our students to become.
That’s what I have in mind when I’m thinking about curriculum, when I’m thinking about forming our students. I want them to become the kind of people I meet at Legatus chapters.
What value does Legatus have for the Church?
The stronger Catholic business leaders know their faith, the more likely they will value service to their parishes and dioceses, both by being generous, and by serving on finance councils and helping with strategic planning. Priests are formed to be pastors of souls, but then they’re given these enterprises they have to run without ever having been in finance, strategic planning, or HR. It’s the job of the laity to help out with that. I think Legatus has some of the most qualified folks who can do that kind of service.