Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, said that “a
more simple way of life” resulting from the economic downturn “could even
help us”.
He urged Christians to consider the millions of people around the world who
have no money and live in poverty, and reflect on the humble birth of Jesus
in a stable.
Cardinal O’Brien is the latest religious leader to suggest that the downturn could bring moral benefits to those affected and wider society.
In his Christmas message, he said: “Perhaps it is at a time of increasing austerity in our country that we might realise that we are being called to a more simple form of lifestyle and that a more simple way of life could even help us should more difficult economic times face us in the years which lie ahead.
“Our greatest example in all of this is the birth of Jesus Christ," he said. "That is the event which should continue to inspire us now and in the years ahead. There was no pomp and ceremony in connection with the birth of Jesus - rather the opposite: it took place in simplicity and in poverty.”
Cardinal O’Brien said Christmas should be a time of joy and celebration in the
family home.
“But it should also remind us of the reality of the world in which we live, a world in which so very many others live in indescribable poverty on a scale we simply cannot imagine.”
Last year the Church of England Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, suggested that city workers who lost their jobs could benefit from escaping the “crackberry culture” of work and focus on what is truly valuable.
“Sometimes indeed people seem to be relieved to get off the treadmill and to be given an opportunity to reconsider what they really want out of life,” he said.
The former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Corman Murphy-O’Connor, said it “may be a good thing” that people had been forced to rely more on family and friends than money in the recession, and criticised the bonus culture in the City.
Speaking in February last year, he suggested that the recession marked “an end of a certain kind of selfish capitalism”.
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has blamed “the idolatrous love of money” for the financial crisis.
“But it should also remind us of the reality of the world in which we live, a world in which so very many others live in indescribable poverty on a scale we simply cannot imagine.”
Last year the Church of England Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, suggested that city workers who lost their jobs could benefit from escaping the “crackberry culture” of work and focus on what is truly valuable.
“Sometimes indeed people seem to be relieved to get off the treadmill and to be given an opportunity to reconsider what they really want out of life,” he said.
The former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Corman Murphy-O’Connor, said it “may be a good thing” that people had been forced to rely more on family and friends than money in the recession, and criticised the bonus culture in the City.
Speaking in February last year, he suggested that the recession marked “an end of a certain kind of selfish capitalism”.
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has blamed “the idolatrous love of money” for the financial crisis.
SIC: TC/UK