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Forum Post: Vatican calls for global authority on economy, raps “idolatry of the market” Once again the Catholic Church shows how corrupt it is.

Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 24, 2011, 3:59 p.m. EST by RobRob (45) from Manhattan, NY
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/24/idUS264245887020111024

The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises. The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.

“Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” was at times very specific, calling, for example, for taxation measures on financial transactions. “The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence,” it said.

"The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn."

This is the last thing we need is for the 1% to control everything. Once again the Catholic Church shows how corrupt it is!

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11 Comments


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[-] 1 points by Lockean (671) from New York, NY 12 years ago

From the reuters piece:

...

The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.

“Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” was at times very specific, calling, for example, for taxation measures on financial transactions. “The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence,” it said.

It condemned what it called “the idolatry of the market” as well as a “neo-liberal thinking” that it said looked exclusively at technical solutions to economic problems. “In fact, the crisis has revealed behaviours like selfishness, collective greed and hoarding of goods on a great scale,” it said, adding that world economics needed an “ethic of solidarity” among rich and poor nations.

“If no solutions are found to the various forms of injustice, the negative effects that will follow on the social, political and economic level will be destined to create a climate of growing hostility and even violence, and ultimately undermine the very foundations of democratic institutions, even the ones considered most solid,” it said.

...

Asked at a news conference if the document could become a manifesto for the movement of the “indignant ones”, who have criticised global economic policies, Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department, said: “The people on Wall Street need to sit down and go through a process of discernment and see whether their role managing the finances of the world is actually serving the interests of humanity and the common good. “We are calling for all these bodies and organisations to sit down and do a little bit of re-thinking.”

I'm really impressed that they called out neoliberalism by name.

[-] 1 points by MDubbs (16) 12 years ago

I think a limited global government given power to govern over global economics is a good thing. The IMF is gaining power with every G20 summit. If SDR's replace treasuries as the primary international currency then what we'll have is a Fed on steroids. Before this happens we should limit the power of the Fed by infusing it into the Treasury. As of right now it is a private institution with the power to print however many billions it wishes. The constitution clearly states that only congress should be allowed to print money, and no form of Fiat money is allowed.

[-] 1 points by bakerjohnj (121) 12 years ago

"Global Public Authority" sounds like a democratic world to me. Who can argue with that?

[-] 1 points by thoughtful (1) 12 years ago

Well, CatholicVote.com IF you Google for news about the 18-page report, has the following text (NOT MY WORDS, nor do I offer endorsement; I include it for clarity for what I think may have been a rushed response, instinctive rather than meticulous and scholarly:

Pope Benedict XVI’s Deus Caritas Est on what role the Church sees herself having in politics:

“The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply.”

In other words, the Church knows her place: She doesn’t start worldwide governing systems. But she also knows that she is in a unique position to see the worldwide ramifications of social justice questions.

But if the Church isn’t making a powerplay, isn’t the Church being naïve? Does she really think a world governing structure will be anything but a bureaucratic bully that sucks sovereignty away from people?

That’s the whole point of the document.

Not only does the Church understand the danger of worldwide governing structures, but Pope Benedict XVI’s most recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate can be seen as an extended examination of the inherent tension between “solidary” and “subsidiarity.”

“Solidarity is first and foremost a sense of responsibility on the part of everyone with regard to everyone,” he writes (No. 38).

He describes the principle of subsidiarity by referencing the Catechism, which says: “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good” (CCC 1883).

In other words, the Catholic principle of subsidiarity says “we owe it to others not to interfere” while solidarity says “we owe it to others to help.”

The Pope sees the need for both, and understands the Church’s social teaching as a reconciliation of the two. “The principle of subsidiarity must remain closely linked to the principle of solidarity and vice versa, since the former without the latter gives way to social privatism, while the latter without the former gives way to paternalist social assistance that is demeaning to those in need,” he says (No. 58).

Caritas in Veritate describes what the Church sees as an alarming trend: The independence of a very powerful financial system as a global force without any oversight that matches its scope.

If hearing the words “world governing structure” makes you afraid of a global power influencing communities who are powerless before it, then you share exactly the fear the Vatican has about the market.

The new document from the Council of Justice and Peace vigorously decries the unfairness of the system that make poor people suffer the consequences of financial speculators’ mistakes. But the document is also very conscious of the Boss’s emphasis on subsidiarity:

“In the tradition of the Church’s Magisterium which Benedict XVI has vigorously embraced, the principle of subsidiarity should regulate relations between the State and local communities and between public and private institutions, not excluding the monetary and financial institutions,” says the Council’s document.

[-] 1 points by debndan (1145) 12 years ago

Sounds like the Pope has it right. Has anyone from OWS reached out to the Catholic church? Sounds like they are on the same page.

[-] 1 points by looselyhuman (3117) 12 years ago

I think I just converted. ;)

[-] 1 points by looselyhuman (3117) 12 years ago

Well, at least as far as "idolatry of the market." Amen to that.

[-] 1 points by malikov (443) from Pasadena, CA 12 years ago

Let's become the “global public authority” http://superunion.org

[-] 1 points by RobRob (45) from Manhattan, NY 12 years ago

Let's not

[-] 1 points by gnomunny (6819) from St Louis, MO 12 years ago

Just checked that link. Interesting concept. I've bookmarked it for future consideration.

[-] 1 points by malikov (443) from Pasadena, CA 12 years ago

Thanks! This is the project's thread here, if you decide to comment: http://occupywallst.org/forum/world-wide-organization/

Also, if you decide to join, but don't want to pay a dollar - I'll upgrade your account for free.

Email: admin@superunion.org