In an article published in L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich, has stressed the need for financial policies that are oriented towards the good of the people, especially the poor and marginalized.
Cardinal Marx is one of the eight prelates in the Council of Cardinals that advise the Pope in governing the Church and Curial Reform.
The Church in the age of globalization has a special task and cannot escape it. Therefore, they can contribute in initiating discussion on the future of the world and to accompany it, he wrote.
The current state of financial capitalism has led to a catastrophic crisis, he said, as well as clarifying that it is a mistake to think that pure markets that promote the common good through free competition exist.
“Capitalism should not become the model of society because […] it does not take into account individual destinies, the weak and the poor.” However, he continued, this has nothing to do with the rejection of the market economy which is necessary and sensible, but it must serve man.”
Cardinal Marx emphasized the need for cooperation, solidarity and responsibility towards the common good. The Archbishop of Munich also clarified that those who are rich are not despised by the Church as some media outlets have asserted, due in part to Pope Francis remarks on capitalism in his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.
“No, the Church does not despise the rich, as several commentators have written, he said. But remember that material goods are only means to an end and may not represent the meaning of life. A society in which one can invite the praise of greed publicly is on the path of alienation and it divides people.” (J.A.E.)
