Book Reviews2 Is there a Catholic way to deal with the current financial world?

Oct 20, 2021

As the financial world becomes more complex, and ways to make money - from shorting stocks to acquiring crypto currency - have become more morally muddled, many Catholics are asking themselves if there are any principles that can be followed to make sure that wealth does not come at the cost of our souls.

Pierre de Lauzun, the French author of "Finance, a Christian Perspective," answers in the affirmative, by opening to the perspective that the existing Social Doctrine of the Church, although important, is a part of the much longer and richer tradition of Catholic social thought.

Lauzun is a Catholic heavyweight when it comes to the financial world. He has worked in banking and finance at many levels—from the Paris Club at the French Treasury, to acting CEO of major banking institutions, to Chairman of the International Council of Securities Associations.

At the same time, he has been openly active as Chairman of the Association of Catholic Economists, member of the French Catholic Academy (Académie catholique de France) and of the French Christian Business leaders (Entrepreneurs et dirigeants chrétiens.)

The book is about finance from a Christian point of view, taking its start from the Gospels and moving forward to modern Catholic Social Teaching and today’s opaque money markets, pausing along the way to delve into the origins of finance in the Christian Middle Ages.

For Lauzun, markets represent free, responsible interaction among human beings, and for this reason their functioning cannot escape close scrutiny in view of moral duty and the common good—precisely the sort of scrutiny this work offers in abundance.

The French edition of "Finance, a Christian Perspective" was awarded the 2015 International Prize of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation by the Vatican.

Finance, A Christian Perspective - Angelico Press