Posted on 12/11/2008 9:52:13 AM PST by Alex Murphy
VATICAN CITY, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict made his clearest attack yet on Thursday on causes of the world economic crisis, branding the global financial system as self-centered, short-sighted and lacking in concern for the poor.
The pope made the accusation in his annual peace message, "Fighting Poverty to Build Peace", in which he also called for a "common code of ethics" in a globalised world that would narrow the gap between the haves and the have nots.
Benedict, who recently has issued several sharp criticisms of banking practices, said the negative aspects of the globalisation of finance were plain for all to see.
"Objectively, the most important function of finance is to sustain the possibility of long-term investment and hence of development," he wrote in the message for the Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, celebrated on Jan. 1.
"Today this appears extremely fragile: it is experiencing the negative repercussions of a system of financial dealings -- both national and global -- based upon very short-term thinking, which aims at increasing the value of financial operations and concentrates on the technical management of various forms of risk," he said.
"The recent crisis demonstrates how financial activity can at times be completely turned in on itself, lacking any long-term consideration of the common good," he said.
A short-sighted mentality meant global finance had lowered its objectives to the point where its capacity to be a stimulus for long-term growth and jobs had been seriously weakened.
"Finance limited in this way to the short and very short term becomes dangerous for everyone, even for those who benefit when the markets perform well," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at africa.reuters.com ...
In the 17-page message, the pope also called for disarmament, a fight against world hunger and child poverty and attacked some campaigns to reduce birth rates in order to help development, particularly those that promote abortion.
Well if I could run a business that pays no taxes, pays poverty wages, and hoards untold treasure, I guess I could afford to be gratutious too.
No mention of Usury? No mention of the effects of debt on a moral outlook on life?
Sorry, Papa...you got this one wrong.
“branding the global financial system as self-centered, short-sighted and lacking in concern for the poor.”
To bad this leader has no understanding of what has actually caused our current problem. And that some here are tired of a church pushing socialism.
And before the fire bombs start a lot of what the church leader supports in socialist.
“The pope made the accusation in his annual peace message, “Fighting Poverty to Build Peace”, in which he also called for a “common code of ethics” in a globalised world that would narrow the gap between the haves and the have nots. “
Which he said from his beautifully ornate quarters, church, etc...
I’m sorry, but the hypocrisy isn’t lost on me.
In addition here is part of the message Reuters will not tell you about:
On the other hand, it cannot be denied that policies which place too much emphasis on assistance underlie many of the failures in providing aid to poor countries. Investing in the formation of people and developing a specific and well-integrated culture of enterprise would seem at present to be the right approach in the medium and long term. If economic activities require a favourable context in order to develop, this must not distract attention from the need to generate revenue. While it has been rightly emphasized that increasing per capita income cannot be the ultimate goal of political and economic activity, it is still an important means of attaining the objective of the fight against hunger and absolute poverty. Hence, the illusion that a policy of mere redistribution of existing wealth can definitively resolve the problem must be set aside. In a modern economy, the value of assets is utterly dependent on the capacity to generate revenue in the present and the future. Wealth creation therefore becomes an inescapable duty, which must be kept in mind if the fight against material poverty is to be effective in the long term.
He should stick to getting his own house in order.
Where did Pope Benedict say anything about socialism? Incidentally, the Catholic Church has condemned socialism for over a century. What Pope Benedict said is precisely what every Christian, Catholic or otherwise, should do: exercise prudence and morality in business. In fact, if you read what The Holy Father said and not the Reuters’ spin, he comes out very strongly for capitalism.
You act as if people would be happy if the Church sold off everything to fight poverty. In fact, with many of these “ornate quarters, church, etc.” were built by the meager donations of poor people! Remember the lesson of the widow with the two mites.
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Capitalism divorced from any restraint of morality turns into Crapitalism - theft, deceit, and greed to the max. Resulting in - voila! Destruction of the whole shebang. Once Profit without the restraint of morality becomes God, the inevitable result is the incest between government and the muckety mucks of high finance. And then what happens?
The collapse of the entire thing. It's happening now. All because the basic moral standards given by all the religions of the world have been thrown in the trash.
Another side point is that when people have some measure of peace and an inner life of the spirit, they don't have this mad craving for MORE MORE MORE MORE. And that simple spirit ruins this type of economy which must have ever increasing greed to fuel it.
Answer me this: where in Scripture does it say to “narrow the gap between the haves and the have nots”? I see plenty about treating the poor fairly and with the dignity befit an image-bearer of God, but nothing about spreading the wealth around.
Amen!
It is absolutely true that some people will be poor no matter what, and some will be rich. That is the way of the world. But there is a reason (or many) why greed, lust, and envy have always been called “wrong”. They ruin the heart.
If a person is poor, they should not envy the rich. And if someone is rich, he shouldn’t take advantage of the poor. If taxes were lower, more people would be inclined to donate to charity to help the poor. And private charities (especially faith based ones, and non-PC ones) actually do much more good - infinitely more good - than any gov “programs”, which only keep people enchained in poverty forever. And what is worse than poverty, enchained in irresponsibility and immorality. Poverty of the spirit is so much worse.
Well said.
I’m poor in money - we live on several thousand dollars less than 20 grand a year. And I don’t mind. I don’t envy those with more, or feel in any way deprived that I can’t afford all kinds of stuff that other people - including relatives and friends - can afford.
We don’t squander our money, we are frugal and live cheap. Buy food in bulk, never eat out, etc. And I don’t mind one single bit. In fact, I hate shopping anyway. The only thing I miss is good dental care. But I only have a couple more decades on the planet anyway.
Real wealth are the riches of the soul - the ones you can take with you when you die (aka exit the mortal coil).
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