On Thursday May 16, Pope Francis received the credential letters of four new ambassadors from Kyrgyzstan, Antigua and Barbuda, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Botswana to the Holy See. In his address to these four diplomats Pope Francis rightly accentuated the rule of ethics concerning economics and social matters. Regarding money he also warned that “we have created new idols”.
After praising the progress registered in some aspects within the history of human the human family such as the health, education and communication sectors, Pope Francis lamented that people are unjustly suffering from what he called “certain pathologies”.
“We must also acknowledge that the majority of the men and women of our time continue to live daily in situations of insecurity, with dire consequences. Certain pathologies are increasing, with their psychological consequences; fear and desperation grip the hearts of many people, even in the so-called rich countries; the joy of life is diminishing; indecency and violence are on the rise; poverty is becoming more and more evident. People have to struggle to live and, frequently, to live in an undignified way”.
The Holy Father said that one of the reasons which is creating so much hardship in our lives is "our relationship with money, and our acceptance of its power over ourselves and our society." Unfortunately due to the financial crisis which the world is experiencing it has managed to make us reject the reality that the deep-seated problem is “the denial of the primacy of human beings!” Money has taken the place that is proper to human dignity. Thus, “we have created new idols. The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.”
The tragic corollary of such idolatry is the violation of the human integrity by merely reducing it to consumption. Furthermore, the human person today is considered as the consumer goods s/he consumes which now are utilised and then thrown into the bin! Disposable culture is rendering us capable of using and throwing away even foundational principles. Sadly this erroneous attitude is present at both the individual and social domain. “It is being promoted!"
To add insult to injury solidarity is regarded as counterproductive because it goes diametrically opposite to the financial and economic mentality. The richer are becoming richer and the poor and being forcefully immersed into their poverty. The hub of the problem is the promotion of “ideologies which uphold the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, and thus deny the right of control to States, which are themselves charged with providing for the common good”. The Pope has also pointed out that rampant and diffused corruption coupled with selfish fiscal evasion are the horrendous
signs of “the will to power and of possession”.
The Bishop of Rome said that certain economists and politicians champion the rejection of ethics since for them “ethics, like solidarity, is … counterproductive: as something too human, because it relativizes money and power; as a threat, because it rejects manipulation and subjection of people: because ethics leads to God, who is situated outside the categories of the market." They fear God because he "calls man to his full realization and to independence from any kind of slavery."
The solution which the Pope gives is that “financial reform along ethical lines … would produce … an economic reform to benefit everyone”. Secondly, politicians are “to face this challenge with determination and farsightedness, taking account, naturally, of their particular situations”. Thirdly, “disinterested solidarity and … person-centred ethics in the world of finance and economics” are
urgently needed. “Money has to serve, not to rule!”
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap