Vatican City, 14 November 2014 (VIS) –
“From your professional observatory, you are well aware of the
dramatic situation faced by many people who are precariously employed
or have lost their jobs; of the many families who pay the
consequences; of the many young people in search of a first
occupation and dignified work. They are many, especially immigrants,
who are compelled to work illegally, and lack the most basic legal
and economic guarantees”, said the Pope this morning in his address
to the seven thousand participants at the World Congress of
Accountants, held in Rome from 10 to 13 November.
In this economic context, there is a
“strong temptation to defend one's own interests without worrying
about the common good, without paying too much attention to justice
and legality. However, we are all, especially those who exercise a
profession associated with the good functioning of the economic life
of a country, required to play a positive and constructive role in
carrying out our work on a daily basis, aware that behind every piece
of paper there is a story, and there are faces. In this task … the
Christian professional draws strength every day from prayer and the
Word of God to carry out his or her own duties well, with skill and
wisdom; and then, to go further than this, which means reaching
towards those in difficulty; exercising that creativity that allows
solutions to be found in situations of impasse; to make the reason of
human dignity prevail over the rigidity of bureaucracy”.
Francis affirmed that the economy and
finance are “dimensions of human activity and may be opportunities
for encounters, dialogue, cooperation, the recognition of rights and
the rendering of services, of dignity affirmed in work. But it is
therefore necessary always to place man and his dignity at the
centre, opposing those dynamics that tend to homogenise everything
and place money at the summit. When money becomes the aim and reason
for every activity and initiative, this leads to the prevalence of a
utilitarian perspective and the untrammelled logic of profit that
does not respect people, with the consequent widespread decline in
the values of solidarity and respect for the human person. Those who
work in various roles in economics and finance are required to make
decisions that favour the social and economic well-being of humanity
as a whole, offering everyone the opportunity to realise their own
development”.
“You, in your profession”, he said,
addressing the accountants, “work alongside companies, but also
families and individuals, to offer economic and financial advice. I
encourage you always to work responsibly, favouring relationships of
loyalty, justice and, if possible, fraternity, courageously facing,
above all, the problems faced by the weakest and poorest. It is not
enough to give concrete answers to economic and material questions;
it is necessary to promote and cultivate the ethics of the economy,
finance and work; it is necessary to keep alive the value of
solidarity as a moral attitude, an expression of attention to others
and all their legitimate needs. If we wish to hand our environmental,
economic, cultural and social patrimony to future generations in a
better condition than that in which we have inherited it, we must
assume the responsibility of working for a globalisation of
solidarity. … And the social doctrine of the Church teaches us that
the principle of solidarity works in harmony with that of
subsidiarity. Thanks to the effect of these two principles, processes
are placed at the services of humanity and enable the growth of
justice, without which there cannot be true and lasting peace”.
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