MAN IS CONSIDERED IN BIOLOGICAL TERMS OR AS "HUMAN CAPITAL"

Vatican City,  (VIS) - The Holy Father today gave an address to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace.

"Man is nowadays considered in predominantly biological terms or as 'human capital', a 'resource', part of a dominant productive or financial mechanism. Although we continue to proclaim the dignity of the person, new ideologies - the hedonistic and egotistic claim to sexual and reproductive rights, or unregulated financial capitalism that abuses politics and derails the true economy - contribute to a concept of the worker and his or her labour as 'minor' commodities and undermine the natural foundations of society, especially the family. In fact, the human being, .... transcendent by comparison to other beings or earthly goods, enjoys true supremacy and responsibility for himself and for creation. ... For Christianity, work is fundamental for man, for his identity, socialisation, the creation of a family and his contribution to peace and the common good. For precisely this reason, the aim of access to work for all is always a priority, even in periods of economic recession.

"From new evangelisation of the social sphere, we can derive a new humanism and renewed cultural and prospective commitment", the Pope continued. The new evangelisation "helps to dethrone modern idols, replacing individualism, materialistic consumerism and technocracy with a culture of fraternity and gratuity, and with mutual love. Jesus Christ summarised these precepts and gave them the form of a new commandment - 'Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another' - and here lies the secret of every fully human and pacific social life, as well as the renewal of politics and of national and global institutions. Blessed John XXIII motivated efforts to build a world community, with a corresponding authority precisely on love for the common good of the human family".

"The Church certainly does not have the task of suggesting, from a judicial or political point of view, the precise configuration of an international system of this type, but rather offers   a set of principles for reflection, criteria for judgement and practical guidelines able to guarantee an anthropological and ethical structure for the common good. However, it is important to note that one should not envisage a superpower, concentrated in the hands of the few, dominating all peoples and exploiting the weakest among them, but rather that such an authority should be understood primarily as a moral force, a power to influence according to reason, or rather as a participatory authority, limited in competence and by law", concluded the Holy Father.