The Vatican's second-in-command on Friday admonished politicians to not
sacrifice workers' rights for the good of financial markets.
"They an integral part of the substance of democracy," said Cardinal
Tarcisio Bertone, the Vactican's secretary of state, during the annual
meeting of the Association of Christian Italian Workers at the papal
summer Castel Gandolfo lake retreat near Rome.
The Italian government led by prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is
trying to hammer out a plan to cut spending by 45.5 billion euros and
balance the budget by 2013.
Moves to alter retirement rules and pensions
have been introduced and scrapped while the government tries to
reassure Italy's bond and stock markets that it doesn't run the risk of
defaulting on its 1.9 trillion euros in debt.
Investors fear that Italy and Spain will follow Greece, and
Portugal's lead in asking the European Union for a bailout to help their
debts.
"A civil economy cannot neglect social structure of a company and
the corresponding responsibility for families of workers," he said.