Cardinal Peter Turkson considers that his dicastery has only done its duty.
If the memo published at the end of October 2011 by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace to propose the creation of a Global Public Authority in order to remedy the current financial crisis has received a lukewarm reception among even the Roman Curia, cardinal Peter Turkson considers that his dicastery has only done its duty.
The Ghanaian cardinal wonders if he will be blamed for having cast doubt on liberal capitalism.
This past October 24, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace presented to the press a memo aimed at the “reform of the international financial system in the context of a Public Authority with universal jurisdiction”.
According to various sources, this document would have prompted the anger of the Secretary of State and the Pope himself, both considering that the dicastery of cardinal Turkson had not been given the responsibility of carrying out such a study, incidentally presented to the press on the eve of the G20 summit in Cannes.
The Italian Vaticanist Sandro Magister maintains more precisely that this document has “upset several people, at the Vatican and elsewhere”, “that it is in flagrant contradiction of the Encyclical Caritas in veritate of Benedict XVI” and that, from now on, no writing will ever be published “without prior monitoring and authorization by the Secretariat of State”.
“For a memo like this one, and we have been publishing them for a long time, on the environment, on racism, etc…, nobody has ever asked us whether or not we had received the approval of the Vatican”, defended cardinal Turkson.
The high prelate wonders if he will be blamed, in the end, for having “cast doubt on liberal capitalism”. Regarding the question about knowing if he joined the “indignant ones” that are protesting today in view of the financial crisis throughout the world, cardinal Turkson responds: “Myself, I did not go out into the street, we are simply doing our job, we have the duty of spreading the social doctrine of the Church and promoting studies like this one”.
“The Holy Father, when he writes theology books on Jesus, does not sign as the Pope but as Joseph Ratzinger.
He does the work of a theologian that can be discussed by other theologians”, again explains the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
“In the same way, he continued, everything that comes out of the dicastery is not a decree about dogma or faith. We have published this memo to allow a discussion since the G20 was about to take place in Cannes, and to face up to the crisis that we have been going through for a long time”.
Questioned on the reactions to this memo, cardinal Turkson asserts: “There are those who we applaud and who tell us: ‘now I am proud to belong to the Catholic Church’, there are also those who are not as happy and finally those who say that we have betrayed the teaching of Benedict XVI since he has never spoken about a political authority”.
“But you have to read the Pope’s document“, asserts cardinal Turkson by opening up the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate in which the Pope affirms that it is “urgent that a genuine Global Political Authority be put into place”.
“If, because of the reactions to this document, the Secretary of State decides that our studies must be reread from now on, I would not have a problem“, yet maintains cardinal Turkson who asserts to be at the Vatican “to serve the Pope“ and confides of not having “yet received any communication of this type“.