Holy See calls for international collaboration on financial crisis

Vatican City, Dec 2, 2008 / 09:15 am

At a time when “uncertainty and anxiety seem to prevail” in the financial world, the Holy See is challenging the international community to turn to a just and equitable sharing in the world’s resources and opportunities. 

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the permanent observer of the Holy See to the U.N., speaking at an international conference in Doha, Qatar on financial development, asserted that national governments need the help of the international community to overcome the financial crisis.

Solving the current problems can be accomplished by “ensuring more just and equitable trade systems,” the archbishop said.

He suggested tackling “trade-distorting subsides, financial speculation, increased energy prices and decreased investment in agriculture” since these have led to a “lack of access to the very thing which is necessary for life, namely food.”

“This economic volatility, which strikes at the heart of human existence, gives greater urgency to finding a common commitment to addressing global trade and development," he added.
 
Although "uncertainty and anxiety seem to prevail at this particular point in time,” Archbishop Migliore said, “the virtues and principles which have led the global community out of so many crises remain.”

Among these principles are: “solidarity with our global community, just and equitable sharing in resources and opportunity, prudent use of the environment, restraint from seeking short-term financial and social gain at the expense of sustainable development, and finally, the political courage which is necessary to build a world in which human life is placed at the centre of all social and economic activities."