• Home
  • Diocese
  • Bishop Burns
  • Synod
  • Columnists
  • Revista Catolica
  • Vatican
  • Subscribe
The Texas Catholic
The Texas Catholic

Dallas, Texas

Today is Wednesday, March 29, 2023
  • Home
  • Diocese
  • Bishop Burns
  • Synod
  • Columnists
  • Revista Catolica
  • Vatican
  • Subscribe
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    • Instagram
Home
Uncategorized

Pope: Politics, economics must serve all people

Monday, June 17, 2013

Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives to celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. The Year of Faith Mass concluded a weekend of events calling attention to care for the aged, the sick, the unborn and those with disabilities. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

By Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The goal of politics and economics is to serve all of humanity, starting with the poorest, the most vulnerable and the unborn, Pope Francis told British Prime Minister David Cameron, president of the Group of Eight industrialized nations.

“Money and other political and economic means must serve, not rule,” the pope said, adding that “in a seemingly paradoxical way, free and disinterested solidarity is the key to the smooth functioning of the global economy.”

The pope also urged the world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, to help broker an immediate cease-fire in Syria and bring warring sides to the negotiating table. The leaders were holding their annual summit at Lough Erne resort in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, June 17-18.

“Peace demands a far-sighted renunciation of certain claims in order to build together a more equitable and just peace,” the pope wrote, adding that peace “is an essential prerequisite” for protecting human life and eradicating hunger.

Pope Francis’ letter, released by the Vatican June 16, was written in response to a letter Cameron sent the pope June 5 outlining some of the priorities the British prime minister intended to push during his one-year term as president of the G-8. Cameron said he wants to emphasize openness in economies, governments and societies through the support of free trade, tackling tax evasion and encouraging greater transparency and accountability in government actions.

In his reply, Pope Francis said if the work of world leaders was to have any impact, all political and economic efforts and policies must be seen as the means, not the end, with the true goal being the protection of the human person and well-being of all humanity.

While freedom and creativity must be guaranteed for people and societies, nations also “must promote and guarantee their responsible exercise in solidarity, with particular attention to the poorest,” the pope wrote.

As Pope Benedict XVI made clear, Pope Francis said, legal frameworks regulating economic activity and measures aimed at remedying the current global financial crisis “must be guided by the ethics of truth.”

“Therefore, concern for the fundamental material and spiritual welfare of every human person is the starting-point for every political and economic solution and the ultimate measure of its effectiveness and its ethical validity,” the pope wrote.

“Moreover, the goal of economics and politics is to serve humanity, beginning with the poorest and most vulnerable wherever they may be, even in their mothers’ wombs,” he wrote.

“Every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the plant with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one’s own human potential,” the pope said.

“In the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless,” he wrote.

Solidarity is the key to a healthy global economy and proper solutions to today’s serious crises will require “a courageous change of attitude” that puts economics and politics at the service of people, not vice versa, he said in his letter.

  • Tags
  • David Cameron
  • economy
  • G8
  • Great Britain
  • poor
  • Pope Francis
  • St. Peter's Square
  • unborn
  • Vatican
Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest
Next article Demolition paves way for new growth
Previous article Catholics must grow in love of God, neighbor, pope says

Related Posts

Sharing Faith Through Music News
Friday, March 24, 2023

Sharing Faith Through Music

How to successfully accompany young Hispanic Catholics Uncategorized
Wednesday, March 22, 2023

How to successfully accompany young Hispanic Catholics

Kevin, un monaguillo que  da lecciones de inclusión Revista Catolica
Sunday, March 5, 2023

Kevin, un monaguillo que da lecciones de inclusión

Texas Catholic Classics

A look at the five Dallas law enforcement officers who gave their lives while protecting citizens during a mass shooting in downtown Dallas in July 2016.

 

How a child with special needs inspired a high school volleyball team, community and a family who heeded God’s call to protect life.

 

After a young runner collapsed at a Dallas marathon, grace and providence unfolded for those involved in the valiant effort to help her.

   

In the summer of 2016, 50 students and 25 chaperones from Dallas Catholic high schools traveled to Nicaragua for a 10-day mission trip.

 

Early on a November morning, Kenndrick Mendieta bounded from the gym at Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep toward the campus’ athletic fields as clouds lifted on a fresh new day.

 

Subscribe

Get the award-winning Texas Catholic delivered to your door. Use the menu below to subscribe now.


Subscription length




 

Photo Gallery

Click here to find your favorite Texas Catholic photographs.

The Texas Catholic Newspaper

Catholic Diocese of Dallas
Michael Gresham, Editor

3725 Blackburn Street
Dallas, Texas 75219
(214) 379-2800

Our Affiliated Sites

Texas Catholic Youth

Revista Católica

Legal and Other

Contact us

Terms of service

Privacy policy

Site map

Site powered by TexasCatholicMedia

© 2013-2019 The Texas Catholic Publishing Company. All rights reserved.