Global economic crisis demands centrality of man be restored, says Cardinal Martino

Santiago, Chile, Sep 30, 2008 / 18:42 pm

Addressing the issue of the financial crisis affecting the United States and the rest of the world, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Renato Martino, called on society this week to remember that the human person should be at the center of the world economy.

In a press conference during his visit to Chile, the cardinal said, “The economic crisis manifesting itself throughout the world is perhaps a sign telling us that the world is not made only of accounts, money and economy; and that perhaps this is a phenomenon to help us remember that the human person must be put at the center of the entire world economy.”

According to the press office of the Bishops’ Conference of Chile, the cardinal said the greatest social problems facing humanity today in the eyes of the Church include the migration of peoples and the 200 million who emigrate in search of work, refuge or a better economic situation.

He also addressed the problem of the world’s water supply. “The right to water is a fundamental human right that is part of the right to life, which is composed of various rights, such as the right to food, the right to work, the right to water. For this reason water cannot be an element that is privatized; it must be at the disposition of all,’ he said.