Italian socialist praises new way forged by Benedict XVI

Rome, Italy, Jul 21, 2009 / 12:46 pm

In an article published by L’Osservatore Romano, the Italian politician, historian and journalist, Giuseppe Tamburrado, who led the Italian Socialist Party from 1966-1981, praised the new social encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI for addressing the real needs of humanity.
 
Tamburrano begins his article by presenting himself as a Socialist and a Christian and then criticizing the recent G-8 Summit which was held in L’Aquila, Italy for being nothing more than a “useful exchange of opinions” with no real concrete proposals for economic reform. 

He noted that the global economic crisis has impacted the poor especially and that up to now there has been no “antagonist” to the crisis.
 
In this context, he continued, “the voice of the Pope has been heard with Caritas in veritate and his call to the G-8 on July 12.  In “Rerum novarum, Leo XIII distinguished between two dominant contenders—liberalism and socialism—and affirmed the superiority of a solid economy at the service of the human person.  With Mater et magistra, the Church of John XXIII, aware of its strong authority, opened itself to dialogue, above all with one of the contenders: that of socialism.”
 
With Benedict XVI, Tamburrano continued, its “neither socialism nor liberalism.  But he is faced with an unjust and jagged economic system that ignores the tragedies of misery, hunger, illiteracy, infant mortality, inequality, war between the poor, fanaticism, racism, human and drug trafficking: the list is long.”
 
“Liberalism has failed leaving behind immense injustices.  Socialism is no more,” he said.

“Is the Church really the only one able to call for a truly humane economy and to give voice to the marginalized of the earth, as well as to the imperative of equal dignity for all men, all women and all children?” Tamburrano asked.