Pope: Encyclical delayed because of economic crisis

February 27, 2009

In a meeting yesterday with priests of the Diocese of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI said that his long-anticipated encyclical on the Church’s social doctrine is being delayed so that the text can be amended to take into account the current worldwide economic crisis. Unless the encyclical deals “competently with the economic reality, it cannot be credible,” he said. “We must denounce” the global economic system, he said, “with courage, but also with concreteness because moralizing will not help if it is not supported by an understanding of reality, which also will help us understand what can be done concretely to change the situation.”

Pope Benedict said that greed is the basis of the economic crisis and added, "Justice cannot be created only with economic reforms, which are necessary, but it also requires the presence of just people."

 

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Further information:

• Holy Father meets priests of Diocese of Rome (VIS)
• Global financial crisis contributes to delay of encyclical, pope says (CNS)