» 05/25/2013 VATICAN Pope: the economic crisis has ethical roots, we need a global rethink of system We can not put "the idols of power, profit, money, over and above the value of the human person." Unemployment "is spreading like wildfire in large areas of the West and boundaries of poverty are spreading at an alarming rate. And there is no worse material poverty, I am compelled to emphasize, than that which does not allow people to earn their daily bread and deprives them of the dignity of work. "
Vatican City (AsiaNews) -
"Rethinking solidarity", "returning to the centrality of man, to
a more ethical vision of human activities and relationships" for "a
global rethinking of the system" is a requirement made more pressing by the
current crisis, with "the phenomenon of unemployment spreading like
crisis, in fact, warns Pope Francis, "is not only economic and financial
but is rooted in an anthropological and ethical crisis" that puts
"the idols of power, profit, money, over and above the value of the human
that" above the business, logic and parameters of the marketplace, is a
human being", who must able to "live in dignity".
The meeting with the Centesimus Annus - Pro Pontifice Foundation, who have been holding an n international
conference on the theme "Rethinking Solidarity for Employment: The
Challenges of the Twenty-First Century", was an opportunity today for the
Pope's reflection on the actuality of the social
doctrine of the Church and the need to "combine Church teaching with
socio-economic development, which, being constant and fast, always presents us
with new aspects."
a reference to the problem addressed by the Foundation - established by Pope
John Paul II twenty years ago, and which bears the name of one of his
encyclical on work and the human person - Francis noted that "rethinking
solidarity" certainly "does not mean questioning recent Magisterium, the
foresight and actuality of which is increasingly coming to bear". It means "above all combining Church teaching
with socio-economic development, which, being constant and fast, always presents
new aspects for discussion". Secondly,
it means "deepening
and further reflecting on it, to bring out the entire fecundity of a value -
solidarity, in this case - that draws deeply from the Gospel, which is Jesus
Christ, and as such contains inexhaustible potential".
"The current economic and
social crisis adds urgency to this 'rethinking' and brings out the truth and relevance
of the Churches social teaching even more." Inside
the crisis is the phenomenon of unemployment, "the lack and of loss
employment, which is spreading like wildfire in large areas of the West and
which is alarmingly spreading the confines of poverty. And there is no worse
material poverty, I am compelled to emphasize, than that which does not allow people
to earn their daily bread and deprives them of the dignity of work. By now this
'something is wrong' no longer concerns only the South, but the entire planet. This
is why there is an ever greater need to 'rethink solidarity' no longer as
simple assistance to the poor, but as a global rethinking of the whole system,
such as finding ways to reform it and correct it in a manner consistent with
the fundamental human rights of all men.
We must restore this word 'solidarity', which is not well seen by the economic world
- as if it were a bad word - its well-deserved social citizenship".
"The current crisis is not
only economic and financial but is rooted in an anthropological and ethical
crisis. The idols of power, profit, money, over and above the value of the
human person, has become a basic mode of operation and decisive
criterion in organization. It is forgotten and people still forget that above
the business logic and parameters of the marketplace, there is the human being
and there is something which is due to man ,
by virtue of his profound dignity: the opportunity to live with dignity and
participate actively in the common good. Benedict XVI reminded us that every
human activity, even in the economic sphere, precisely because it is human, must
be structured and governed in an ethical manner. We must return to the centrality
of man, to more ethical human activities and relationships, without the fear that
in doing so we will lose something. "