Archbishop reminds protesting Chilean workers of moral failure in economic crisis

Santiago, Chile, Apr 17, 2009 / 12:18 pm

Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati of Concepcion in Chile said this week the global economic crisis has profound moral roots and that economic leaders around the world should “use their intelligence to seek the truth that leads to true development.”

In response to protests by workers in downtown Santiago against massive layoffs, the archbishop explained that the crisis is the result of disregard for the ethics and morality that should guide the managing of finances and the economy.

“If I look at the origins of this crisis and I analyze the first and fundamental fact, I find an action that is immoral: speculating with money that belongs to others; huge investments with no foundation and backing; the desire to profit at the expense of others,” the archbishop said.

“It can be said with certainty,” he continued, “that this crisis was foretold by Pope Benedict XVI one year earlier in his encyclical ‘Spe salvi,’ when he warned that the foundation upon which the growth and development of the world was being carried out was erroneous and would lead to failure.”

According to Archbishop Ezzati, “The moral crisis is due to a crisis of faith in human intelligence, because human reason is called to seek the truth, as an ethical obligation. But it is not enough to find it, it must also be followed. For this reason, the leaders of the world economy have a great task, that of using their intelligence to seek the truth that leads to true development.”

Some twelve thousand workers marched through the streets of downtown Santiago on Thursday protesting massive layoffs and demanding more aid from the government.