There's no doubt that the current global economic crisis is due in part to business practices that put profit before the person, says Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.The Vatican's secretary of state wrote this in a statement he sent to the three-day Group of Eight summit that was held in Rome from Sunday to Tuesday.
The Vatican released the note today.
The meeting, called the social summit, had as its focus to discuss how to strengthen welfare systems and help put people back to work.
It gathered the labor secretaries from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Representatives of Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico and South Africa also joined the summit.
In the message, which the cardinal addressed to the Italian Labor Minister Maurizio Sacconi, the summit's president, he said that the initiative to put work at the center of the debate "is very appropriate, because there are no longer any doubts about the ethical dimension of the crisis, caused by a globalized management of finances that only pursued profit and not the common good and dignity of the person."
Foundation
In this connection, the secretary of state reminded the minister that the principle of human dignity, foundation of the Social Doctrine of the Church, stems from the fact that "the person, in as much as center and summit of all that exists on earth, is the end of all social institutions and of the whole economic endeavor."
The service of the most essential needs of all men, especially of the poorest, is therefore a "fundamental pillar and stone of comparison of all measures directed to resolving the economic crisis that currently affects all countries without exception," Cardinal Bertone explained.
Because of this, he continued, "beyond the necessary measures, relating to the present moment, to stem the financial turbulence and to come out of the generalized recession, it is necessary to make every effort to give back the human dimension to the economy."
The paradigm of social sustainability of the Rome meeting, noted the cardinal, must "be corroborated by a world social consciousness, the awareness that in the world, humanity is only one family."
From the numerous multilateral discussions on the crisis "the world expects concrete and effective proposals, able to guarantee everyone, including those who have lost their job or are at risk of losing it, an essential level of income and security," Cardinal Bertone said.
In the same way, he concluded, what is required is that "the essential rights of workers always be respected and promoted."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce
(Source: Zenit)