Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ News / World/  Pope Francis attacks global economics for worshipping “God Of Money”
BackBack

Pope Francis attacks global economics for worshipping “God Of Money”

Globalised economic system “does much harm”, says Pope Francis; urges unemployed to fight for work

Pope Francis (left) celebrating a mass in Cagliari on Sunday. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP)Premium
Pope Francis (left) celebrating a mass in Cagliari on Sunday. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP
(Alberto Pizzoli/AFP)

Cagliari: Pope Francis made one of his strongest attacks on the global economic system on Sunday, saying it could no longer be based on a “god called money" and urged the unemployed to fight for work.

Francis, at the start of a day-long trip to the island’s capital, put aside his prepared text at a meeting with unemployed workers, including miners in hard hats who told him of their situation, and improvised for nearly 20 minutes.

“I find suffering here ... It weakens you and robs you of hope," he said, “Excuse me if I use strong words, but where there is no work there is no dignity."

The crowd of tens of thousands of people in a square near the city port chanted “work, work, work" at the gathering, which took on the feel of a union rally.

Cagliari has a youth unemployment rate of about 51% and much of the island’s mining and industrial sectors are in crisis, with many unemployed.

But the pope made clear that his assessment was not limited to the local.

“It is not a problem of Italy and Europe ... It is the consequence of a world choice, of an economic system that brings about this tragedy, an economic system that has at its centre an idol which is called money," he said to the cheers of the crowd.

“We don’t want this globalised economic system which does us so much harm. Men and women have to be at the centre (of an economic system) as God wants, not money," he said.

While Francis’s predecessor Benedict also called for changes to economic systems, he was more likely to use dense intellectual language.

Francis, who as bishop of Buenos Aires sided with unemployed workers in their conflict with government austerity plans, ended his improvised speech with a prayer asking God to “give us work and teach us to fight for work".

Francis said he did not want the crowd to see him as a “cordial manager of the Church who comes here and says to you ‘have courage’".

He added: “I don’t want this. I want this courage to come from inside me and push me to do everything I can as a pastor and a man." REUTERS

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 22 Sep 2013, 08:26 PM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App