The economic crisis of recent years has
exacerbated "the dangers involved in rapid economic growth which can
all too easily bypass ethical considerations, with the result that the
poorer elements in society tend to be excluded from their rightful share
of the nation’s prosperity".
The need to combine ethics and economics, a
task which the Church in its "public role" continues to recommend, was
emphasized today by Benedict XVI in his address to the new ambassador of
South Korea, Thomas Hong-Soon Han, received for the presentation of his
credentials.
The new ambassador is a long time member of the Pontifical
Council for the Laity and the main organizer of the Congress on lay
mission held in Seoul last September.
He has frequently collaborated
with AsiaNews.
As mentioned in Caritas in Veritate, the Pope pointed out how the
crisis is also an opportunity to "focus attention on the need to renew
the ethical foundation of all economic and political activities." In
this regard, he encouraged the Korean government in its efforts to
"commitment to ensure that social justice and care for the common good
grow side by side with material prosperity” ensuring the Catholic
Church’s willingness to work with the Government as it seeks to promote
these worthy goals.
The Church in Korea, however, as mentioned by the ambassador, is a
Church "not by any foreign missionary but by Korean lay faithful.
themselves and boasts of the martyrdom of more than ten thousand
faithful who heroically offered their lives for the great cause of God
in the 19ts century".
A Church the diplomat said that is held in " high
esteem by her people for the contribution she has made to the
modernization and development of her country, always in fidelity to the
Papal Magisterium".
It, in the words of Benedict XVI, " Church helps to nurture and
promote the values of solidarity and fraternity that are essential for
the common good of any human community." For this reason, the Church "
has a public role over and above her charitable and educational
activities” (Caritas in Veritate, 11). It is a role that
involves proclaiming the truths of the Gospel, which continually
challenge us to look beyond the narrow pragmatism and partisan interests
that can so often condition political choices, and to recognize the
obligations incumbent upon us in view of the dignity of the human
person, created in the image and likeness of God. This
requires of us an unambiguous commitment to defend human life at every
stage from conception to natural death, to promote stable family life in
accordance with the norms of the natural law and to build peace and
justice wherever there is conflict."
SIC: AN/INT'L