Christian morality must be considered most powerful factor in economic relations, says Pope to bankers

Vatican City, Sep 16, 2004 / 22:00 pm

This morning at Castelgandolfo Pope John Paul II spoke about the role of bankers to 25 members of the Italian baking group Capitalia, telling them that "your presence in society can become an instrument of true progress, offering support for valid initiatives of individuals and groups who come to you for their legitimate financial and economic needs."

"The complex world of credit," said the Holy Father, "calls for reflection by the Church because of the many ethical implications that regard it. It would in fact be decidedly inadequate to limit oneself to pursuing only maximum profit; it is necessary, rather, to always refer to the higher values of human living if one wants to help the true growth and full development of the community.”

“In this regard,” noted the Pope, “the great Catholic economist Giuseppe Toniolo observed that Christian morality must be considered 'as the most powerful factor in awakening economic energy in peoples and in guaranteeing its most regular and efficacious relations'."

"I hope," John Paul II concluded, "that your work will always be sustained by this higher vision, so that you contribute to the well-being of all who avail themselves of your activity and, in general, of those of the entire community in which you work."