2013-12-11 12:06:16

Economic justice in Evangelii Gaudium


(Vatican Radio) The fight against poverty and the inclusion of the marginalized in a new vision of social solidarity is a key theme in the first major document of Pope Francis’ pontificate – the Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium that was published at the end of November.
To take a closer look at how the new Pope contributes to the longstanding social teaching of the Church – often described as “its best kept secret” - Philippa Hitchen spoke with Fr Augusto Zampini Davies, a moral theologian from the diocese of San Isidro in the Argentinian capital. He’s currently doing research in the UK on linking theology to economic development and he took part in a recent Vatican workshop at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences entitled ‘The Emergency of the Socially Excluded’…..

Listen RealAudioMP3

It was fascinating listening to different voices in the Vatican, representatives of social movements from Argentina and Brazil (‘Cartoneras’ who make a living by recycling materials from the streets)…economists…politicians, theologians, philosophers…..the whole point was an initiative from the Pope to start studying issues around the excluded and the marginalized – not exclusion and marginalization, but the focus should be on (listening to) the people themselves…

I think the new emphasis is when the Pope says he like a Church in the margins and we should go to the margins and think from there….the final reality of human beings cannot be poverty and exclusion and the Church is willing to offer a place where different voices can come and create new alternatives to the present model…

Charity, broadly understood, is about justice, about creating structures where people can flourish ….Benedict in Caritas in Veritate was very clear on this…..but with Francis, with these signs of embracing the children and (disabled) people, the awareness of the Catholic world about our attitude to the poor is changing…..they are our brothers and sisters….we have to embrace them and they can teach us too…

One of the core things that Evangelii Gaudium says is firstly, we cannot be indifferent and secondly, some of the media in the US have criticized the Pope…I think they have misunderstood the document….he is provocative on purpose, like Jesus was, but he is highly respectful of entrepreneurs who want to create wealth…..but his whole point is that if our business generates unprecedented levels of inequality, then we should do something about it….I study the relation between economics and theology and you have Nobel prizes in economics, such as Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz, who have overtly criticized the trickle-down effect….








All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.