Thread: Pope lashes out at Capitalism

Pope Benedict XVI, on the eve of a global economic summit, lashed out at modern capitalism for being shortsighted and short on ethics.

"Today's international economic scene, marked by grave deviations and failures, requires a profoundly new way of understanding business enterprise," the pontiff said in his third encyclical letter, "Charity in Truth," which was released Tuesday.

The papal letter was released as the heads of leading industrialized nations started gathering in central Italy for the Group of Eight economic summit, which begins Wednesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to speak about the economic outlook. The leaders of the other G-8 nations -- Japan, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Canada and Russia -- also are scheduled to speak.

Pope Benedict will meet Obama on Friday at the close of the three-day summit, which is being held near the central Italian city of L'Aquila. A magnitude-6.3 earthquake hit the city on April 6, killing about 300 people and leaving some 45,000 homeless.

In his letter, Benedict challenged bankers to turn away from the practices blamed for bringing about the global economic crisis and instead use their power to help the world create wealth and economic development.

"Above all, the intention to do good must not be considered incompatible with the effective capacity to produce goods," Benedict said. "Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity, so as not to abuse the sophisticated instruments which can serve to betray the interests of savers."

The world financial crisis and the downturn in markets took a big chunk out of the retirement savings of millions of people.

God's gonna smite some bankers

I still find it difficult to take him seriously with that silly hat on.

Yeah, because we all know the pope is who we need to take financial advice from, right?

Originally Posted by CivilWars

Yeah, because we all know the pope is who we need to take financial advice from, right?

we do, he is the messanger of God, thus God must be trying to help us!

He is just a man.

He cannot communicate my thoughts/prayers to God any better than I can.

double lol!!!

Originally Posted by CivilWars

Yeah, because we all know the pope is who we need to take financial advice from, right?

Right.

Does anyone know how much money and gold the Vatican has? Talk about Capitalizing on people's spiritual feelings...

What was the popes first political party? Someone remind me...

Originally Posted by SoulNinja

Originally Posted by CivilWars

Yeah, because we all know the pope is who we need to take financial advice from, right?

Right.

Does anyone know how much money and gold the Vatican has? Talk about Capitalizing on people's spiritual feelings...

Silly man, that was the OLD vatican...Catholics havent sold get-out-of-sin-free cards since, like the 60's!

LOL!

Catholicism does more to give God a bad name than anything else out there.