Vatican spokesman on gratuitousness and the economic crisis
November 14, 2011
The director of the Holy See Press Office has devoted his weekly editorial to gratuitousness and the economic crisis.
“The Pope asks us to keep in mind the idea of ‘gratuitousness,’ of giving freely--that is, not living solely for one’s own interests, but living in such a way that we are a gift to others,” said Father Federico Lombardi. “The Pope had already spoken about this attitude of ‘freely giving’ in his last encyclical: ‘the market of gratuitousness does not exist, and attitudes of gratuitousness cannot be established by law. Yet both the market and politics need individuals who are open to reciprocal gift.’”
“In short, man does not live on bread alone, but also on the relationships between men and women who are truly free, who respect one another and take care of one another and love one another, beyond selfish calculations,” Father Lombardi added. “It is from these relationships that mutual trust is rebuilt between people and populations. It is the fulcrum that is needed to lift the world anew.”
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