Pope Seeks "Global Authority" For Economy

Reuters ^ | 7 July 09 | Philip Pullella

[vivalaoink]

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict on Tuesday called for a "world political authority" to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat.

The pope's call for a re-think of the way the world economy is run came in new encyclical which touched on a number of social issues but whose main connecting thread was how the current crisis has affected both rich and poor nations.

Called "Charity in Truth," parts of the encyclical appeared bound to upset conservatives because of its underlying rejection of unbridled capitalism and unregulated market forces, which he said had led to "thoroughly destructive" abuse of the system.

The pope said every economic decision has a moral consequence and called for "forms of redistribution" of wealth overseen by governments to help those most affected by crises.

[PetroniusMaximus]

“So all that he is really doing is providing a framework by which the Church will judge their efforts to be either moral or immoral.”

No, he’s calling for it. He says it’s an urgent need.

[Patriotic1]

Earlier popes have said that you cannot be a socialist and a Christian. (It’s on the front page of every Wanderer news publication, but I don’t have one of those at hand.)

I had heard that much of his focus was going to focus on the poorer countries enslaved by foreign loans. As conservatives, we all know what happened to THAT money. There’s a system set up to deal with such things, but it’s only making things worse.

My solution would be to round up all of the thieves and despots, and kill them all. God will know His own. Of course, my personal solution strays just a bit from Christian thought, so I can understand the fact he doesn’t say that himself.

[Willie Green]

No, he’s calling for it. He says it’s an urgent need.

Well then I guess the good news is that establishment of a global financial authority isn't a doctrine regarding faith or morals subject to ex cathedra papal infallibility.

So I can ignore him without risk of going to hell.

[fooman]

As a Catholic, I have to say this is VERY troubling.

The obvious retort being that we redistribute the Pope’s wealth....

[ArrogantBustard]

Al-Reuters distorts the news.

FReepers slurp it up like hogs at the trough.

Nothing new under the sun.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

The Pope need not worry.

The "global authority" is closer to becoming a reality that he could imagine.

[raybbr]

I would guess everyone I have pinged above would normally highly suspect something from this wire serve. But since it concerns the Pope, it must be true (saracasm).

I would guess someone making a blanket accusation would note that I posted directly from the encyclical.

[Austin Scott]

Not applicable here. Only on matters of faith and morals, when delivered “ex cathedra” i.e. with the full force and deliberate intention of acting as the universal pontiff.

[fooman]

I am reading the whole thing. This would supports argument that we are going to get world government anyway, so it should be ‘good’

9. Love in truth — caritas in veritate — is a great challenge for the Church in a world that is becoming progressively and pervasively globalized. The risk for our time is that the de facto interdependence of people and nations is not matched by ethical interaction of consciences and minds that would give rise to truly human development. Only in charity, illumined by the light of reason and faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more humane and humanizing value. The sharing of goods and resources, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21), opening up the path towards reciprocity of consciences and liberties.

[fooman]

does that mean that encyclicals are ‘guidelines’ to be ignored...

[Antoninus]

Instead of trusting a biased source like Reuters to give you the scoop on the Encyclical, you should read it for yourself:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

Here are some quotes:

"Man does not develop through his own powers, nor can development simply be handed to him. In the course of history, it was often maintained that the creation of institutions was sufficient to guarantee the fulfilment of humanity's right to development. Unfortunately, too much confidence was placed in those institutions, as if they were able to deliver the desired objective automatically. In reality, institutions by themselves are not enough, because integral human development is primarily a vocation, and therefore it involves a free assumption of responsibility in solidarity on the part of everyone. Moreover, such development requires a transcendent vision of the person, it needs God: without him, development is either denied, or entrusted exclusively to man, who falls into the trap of thinking he can bring about his own salvation, and ends up promoting a dehumanized form of development." (11)

"The Church forcefully maintains this link between life ethics and social ethics, fully aware that 'a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized.'" (15)

"A vocation is a call that requires a free and responsible answer. Integral human development presupposes the responsible freedom of the individual and of peoples: no structure can guarantee this development over and above human responsibility. The “types of messianism which give promises but create illusions”[38] always build their case on a denial of the transcendent dimension of development, in the conviction that it lies entirely at their disposal. This false security becomes a weakness, because it involves reducing man to subservience, to a mere means for development, while the humility of those who accept a vocation is transformed into true autonomy, because it sets them free." (17) [Note: this is a condemnation of atheistic socialism.]

"...It must be acknowledged that this same economic growth has been and continues to be weighed down by malfunctions and dramatic problems, highlighted even further by the current crisis. This presents us with choices that cannot be postponed concerning nothing less than the destiny of man, who, moreover, cannot prescind from his nature. The technical forces in play, the global interrelations, the damaging effects on the real economy of badly managed and largely speculative financial dealing, large-scale migration of peoples, often provoked by some particular circumstance and then given insufficient attention, the unregulated exploitation of the earth's resources: all this leads us today to reflect on the measures that would be necessary to provide a solution to problems that are not only new in comparison to those addressed by Pope Paul VI, but also, and above all, of decisive impact upon the present and future good of humanity. (21)

"Corruption and illegality are unfortunately evident in the conduct of the economic and political class in rich countries, both old and new, as well as in poor ones. Among those who sometimes fail to respect the human rights of workers are large multinational companies as well as local producers. International aid has often been diverted from its proper ends, through irresponsible actions both within the chain of donors and within that of the beneficiaries." (22)

"Openness to life is at the centre of true development. When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good. If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away[67]. The acceptance of life strengthens moral fibre and makes people capable of mutual help. By cultivating openness to life, wealthy peoples can better understand the needs of poor ones, they can avoid employing huge economic and intellectual resources to satisfy the selfish desires of their own citizens, and instead, they can promote virtuous action within the perspective of production that is morally sound and marked by solidarity, respecting the fundamental right to life of every people and every individual." (28)

"When the State promotes, teaches, or actually imposes forms of practical atheism, it deprives its citizens of the moral and spiritual strength that is indispensable for attaining integral human development and it impedes them from moving forward with renewed dynamism as they strive to offer a more generous human response to divine love[71]. In the context of cultural, commercial or political relations, it also sometimes happens that economically developed or emerging countries export this reductive vision of the person and his destiny to poor countries. This is the damage that “superdevelopment”[72] causes to authentic development when it is accompanied by “moral underdevelopment”[73]." (29)

"The demands of love do not contradict those of reason. Human knowledge is insufficient and the conclusions of science cannot indicate by themselves the path towards integral human development. There is always a need to push further ahead: this is what is required by charity in truth[76]. Going beyond, however, never means prescinding from the conclusions of reason, nor contradicting its results. Intelligence and love are not in separate compartments: love is rich in intelligence and intelligence is full of love." (30)

There's a lot more in there, but this post is long enough already.

Suffice it to say that this is not an encyclical that should be cherry-picked. It is wide-ranging and addresses a ton of issues.

[Mr Rogers]

He is welcome to call for charitable, free giving. He is NOT welcome to call for a world organization that can make governments be nice - because corrupt politicians will define nice.

And once it is created, it will call all of Christianity “not nice”. Muslims will be fine, peace-loving folks, ‘though.

[fooman]

Yeah, I agree. He calls for his own demise ....

[BlueNgold]

So the rest of the time he can spout off on things that he has no business talking about and is allowed to be wrong...

If he is discussing matters such as global poverty and allowed an audience because he is in fact the pope - how is that not acting as the pope?

I still don’t get it. He’s a man - he can’t be infallible ‘sometimes’ and other times he’s just a man. Show me where it says THAT in the Bible...

Scratch that - don’t. Don’t try to show me anything - I’m not a Catholic, and don’t intend to convert. I started with a joke and should have let it lie...

My point is that many many many Catholics throughout the world take the pontiff’s word as gospel regardless whether he invokes his papal infallibility or if he is speaking just as a man. And in this case he is dead wrong.

[annalex]

World political authority that regulates and manages economy is no Antichrist, unless you imagine His Holiness called to worship that putative reformed UN.

[In veno, veritas]

What “world authority” has ever “observed... to seek to establish the common good”?

Jesus?

[PetroniusMaximus]

“World political authority that regulates and manages economy is no Antichrist, unless you imagine His Holiness called to worship that putative reformed UN.”

“He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. “

This requires some form of “World political authority” to be in place.

[PetroniusMaximus]

Jesus didn’t promote the “common good”, he promoted the Kingdom of God.

[jjm2111]

Reuters are masters of taking things out of context. People should read the actual document.

[annalex]

Some forms of world political authority are already in place. A call to reform those is not a call to worship Antichrist.

Beside, I would not consider the moneychangers like Soros, or economic traitors that sold our industrial base to China as someone engaged in legitimate buying or selling.