The Pope and the Price of Meat: A Public Choice Perspective

Richard W Ault, Robert B. Ekelund () and Robert Tollison ()

Kyklos, 1987, vol. 40, issue 3, pages 399-413

Abstract: This Paper applies public-choice and modern regulatory theory to the twentieth-century Roman Catholic Church and atte mpts to discover why the decision was made, in 1966, to absolve Catho lics from the requirement that meat not be eaten on most Fridays of t he year. The authors provide a cartel analysis of the institutional b ackground and power structure of the College of Cardinals within the Church. They then argue that self-interest, economic geography, and a n expanded number of third-world voters in the College of Cardinals a re the keys to understanding why Pope Paul IV decided to change the r elative price of meat and to alter penance rules in 1966. Copyright 1987 by WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG

Date: 1987

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