Vatican cardinals see flaws in international finance system

May 17, 2011

"The international financial system seems to be trapped in a trap of egoism and selfishness," says Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Cardinal Rodriguez, the president of Caritas International, told Vatican Radio that the international financial system seems to be "looking to a small amount of countries in the world and excluding the majority." He spoke to Vatican Radio during a conference hosted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, marking the 50th anniversary of the landmark social encyclical, Mater et Magistra, by Pope John XXIII.

In a separate interview with Vatican Radio, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace commented on new obstacles to development in the world's neediest countries: the main focus of Pope John's encyclical. Cardinal Peter Turkson called attention to the "neo-colonialism in the control of basic resources," for example.

Cardinal Turkson also observed: "European farmers for example have subsidies to produce; in the Third world there are no subsidies. How can you expect African farmers to compete on global markets? "

 

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Further information:

• Card Maradiaga: Breaking the cycle of selfishness (Vatican Radio)
• Cardinal Turkson: Practical priorities (Vatican Radio)