The stand off at St Paul’s Cathedral has resulted in one of the most high profile resignations in the Church of England in modern times. The Chancellor of St Paul’s, Canon Giles Fraser, would be regarded as a modern prophet in the proper Biblical use of the word “prophet”, as being one who under God detects where God is at work amongst society.
The Chancellor’s intervention seemed to have reduced the possibility of conflict between protestors and the police in the short term. That in itself was worthwhile. It also gave time to those who needed to assess whether or not there were anarchists or physical-force activists amongst the protestors.
Regardless of the rights or wrongs of the closure of St Paul’s and the inability of civic powers to prevent demonstrators from permanently occupying public space, as in Parliament Square, the situation at St Paul’s perhaps has more going for the protestors biblically, than at first sight in a largely secular society.
Jesus did challenge the greed of his day and especially that which was centred on the temple. And there is no doubt that corporate and personal greed, associated with irresponsible usury, lies at the core of the biggest financial problem to beset Europe and the world. It is too soon by far to say whether or not this week’s endeavour to save the eurozone from complete meltdown will be successful in the long term, or whether it is just another “Europlast” on a wound which requires much more serious remedial and longer term endeavour. For certain, the Christ of the Magnificat is more readily identifiable with the protestors than with corporate banking.
The report issued by the Vatican on Monday called for an overhaul of the world’s financial systems, and again proposed the establishment of a supranational authority to oversee the global economy. It said it was necessary to bring more democratic and ethical principles to a marketplace run amok. The Vatican argued that “politics — which is responsible for the common good” must be given primacy over the economy and finance, and that existing institutions like the International Monetary Fund had not been responding adequately to global economic problems.The document grows out of the Roman Catholic Church’s concerns about economic instability and widening inequality of income and wealth around the world, which are both issues that transcend the power of national governments to address on their own.
“The time has come to conceive of institutions with universal competence, now that vital goods shared by the entire human family are at stake, goods which the individual states cannot promote and protect by themselves,” Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, the president of the pontifical council, said as he presented the report “That is what pushed us.”
The document is a reminder that the Roman Catholic Church, without getting involved in policymaking, still seeks to shape its principles. “To function correctly the economy needs ethics; and not just of any kind, but one that is people-centered,” the document states, paraphrasing an encyclical that Pope Benedict XVI issued in 2009 calling for greater social responsibility in the economy.
The language in the document, which the Vatican refers to as a note, is distinctively strong. “We should not be afraid to propose new ideas, even if they might destabilize pre-existing balances of power that prevail over the weakest,” the document states.
The message prompted comparisons with the rallying cries of protest movements that have been challenging the financial world order, like the indignados in Madrid and the Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York City. Still, Vatican officials said the document was not a manifesto for disaffected dissidents.
“The document proposes ideas that seem to be in line with those proposed by the indignados, but really we are in line with the Magisterium of the church,” said Bishop Mario Toso, secretary to the pontifical council, referring to the church’s teaching authority. “It is a coincidence that we share some views. But after all, these are proposals that are based on reasonableness.”
In the United States, the report was embraced by politically liberal Catholics who are concerned about the widening gap between rich and poor. Vincent J. Miller, a professor of Catholic theology and culture at the University of Dayton, wrote, “It’s clear the Vatican stands with the Occupy Wall Street protesters and others struggling to return ethics and good governance to a financial sector grown out of control after 30 years of deregulation.”
John Gehring of Faith in Public Life, a liberal advocacy group in Washington, said, “In the next Republican presidential debate, someone should ask Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both proudly Catholic, whether they support the Vatican’s call for more robust financial reform.”
Politically conservative Catholics, meanwhile, hastened to assure their camp that the document does not carry the full force of church teaching, since it was produced by a Vatican office, not by the pope himself. And some dismissed the report as nothing new, or simply misinformed.
Writing in the National Review, Samuel Gregg of the Acton Institute, which promotes free-market economic policies, said of the document: “It reflects rather conventional contemporary economic thinking. Unfortunately, given the uselessness of much present-day economics, that’s not likely to make it especially helpful.”
And there I was thinking the Pope had something on offer which was relevant! However, I got some comfort from Thomas J. Reese who is a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, and a former editor of America, the national Catholic weekly magazine.
He has written, “The Vatican released a document on the world economy on Monday that will cause heartburn in the Tea Party, but will be cheered by the folks occupying Wall Street.
“This will surprise most Americans who think the pope is a Republican because he opposes abortion and gay marriage. But when it comes to economic justice, Pope Benedict XVI is to the left of President Obama. Heck, he is even to the left of Nancy Pelosi.
“Those who read the pope’s 2009 encyclical “Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)” will not be surprised by this new document. In that encyclical, the pope decried “corruption and illegality” among economic and political elites in both rich and poor countries. He told financiers they must rediscover the ethical foundation of their activity and stop abusing savers. He wants a radical rethinking of economics so that it is guided not simply by profits but by “an ethics which is people-centered.”
“Benedict notes that economic “inequalities are on the increase” across the globe. He does not accept the trickle-down theory, which says that all boats will rise with the economic tide. Benedict condemns the “scandal of glaring inequalities” and sees a role for government in the redistribution of wealth.
“Yes, you heard that right. The pope favors the redistribution of wealth. When was the last time you heard a liberal Democrat use those words?”
The Pope also disagrees with those who believe that the economy should be free of government regulation. An unregulated economy “shielded from ‘influences’ of a moral character has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way,” he writes. This has “led to economic, social and political systems that trample upon personal and social freedom, and are therefore unable to deliver the justice that they promise.”
Critics have complained that the Occupy Wall Street movement and its counterparts have no programme. The people in the movement could do a lot worse than to study what the pope has said about the economy. Sadly, few Roman Catholics know of the church’s teaching on economic justice, which has been called the church’s best-kept secret.
The Pope does not have a magic plan to restore economic prosperity, but he does focus on the values that a political and economic system must support. The priority, he says, must be “access to steady employment for everyone.” And that means not just in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe, but also in the developing world, where we must rescue “peoples, first and foremost, from hunger, deprivation, endemic diseases and illiteracy.” Christian Aid’s statement this week on multi-nationals was most apposite.
But if you see a white, solar-powered car heading toward Wall Street or the City of London, it might just be the popemobile.
Houston McKelvey