The international community is challenged to devise long-term political, social and economic responses to issues «that transcend national and continental boundaries, and affect the entire human family.»
Pope Francis’ told this to members of the «Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice» Foundation this morning in the Vatican, which was concluding its annual international conference. The foundation was established in 1993 years ago by Saint John Paul II along with lay Catholic business, academic and professional leaders to promote Catholic Social Doctrine, especially Centesimus Annus.
«The fight against poverty,» the Pope stressed, «is not merely a technical economic problem, but above all a moral one, calling for global solidarity and the development of more equitable approaches to the concrete needs and aspirations of individuals and peoples worldwide.»
The Pontiff recalled Saint John Paul II’s insistence that economic activity ‘cannot be conducted in an institutional or political vacuum (cf. Centesimus Annus, 48)’, but has ‘an essential ethical component; it must always stand at the service of the human person and the universal common good.’
«An economic vision geared to profit and material well-being alone,» Francis said, «is – as experience is daily showing us – incapable of contributing in a positive way to a globalization that favors the integral development of the world’s peoples, a just distribution of the earth’s resources, the guarantee of dignified labour and the encouragement of private initiative and local enterprise.»
«An economy of exclusion and inequality,» the Pope continued, «has led to greater numbers of the disenfranchised and those discarded as unproductive and useless.»
These detrimental effects, the Holy Father pointed out, are felt even in our more developed societies, where the growth of relative poverty and social decay represent a serious threat to families, the middle class and young people.
Young people’s rates of unemployment, the Pope decried, are «not only ‘a scandal’ needing to be addressed first and foremost in economic terms, but also, and no less urgently, as ‘a social ill,’ for our youth are being robbed of hope and their great resources of energy, creativity and vision are being squandered.»
The Holy Father went on to express his hope that their conference will contribute to generating new models of economic progress more clearly directed to the universal common good, inclusion and integral development, the creation of labour and investment in human resources.
Pope Francis concluded, blessing the participants and invoking the Lord’s blessings of wisdom, joy and strength upon them.
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full Text: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-address-to-centesimus-annus-pro-pontefice-foundation/
