Pope Says Capitalism Is Failing
In the spirit of the poignant critiques of capitalism made popular by Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI has written a scathing letter just in time for the capitalist G-8 economic summit in Italy that demands we find a "profoundly new way of understanding business enterprise."
In the spirit of the poignant critiques of capitalism made popular by Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI has written a scathing letter just in time for the capitalist G-8 economic summit in Italy that demands we find a “profoundly new way of understanding business enterprise.”
Rock Solid JournalismCNN:
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.
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The "Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update correspondent made an appearance on KPFK radio's "Pocho Hour of Power" to comment on popes past and present.
Pope Benedict's resignation shouldn't have surprised us as much as it did. As an institutionalist who believes in the Roman Catholic Church as the carrier of truth in a sinful world, he would worry a great deal about the impact of his own infirmities on the institution's capacity to thrive.
Whatever messages Pope Benedict tried to convey during his tenure were "drowned out" by the child abuse scandal and other controversies that rocked the Vatican during his reign, John Hooper writes at The Guardian.
Pope Benedict XVI may have prayed for change in the Cuban political system during his stopover on the island nation on Tuesday, but he won't see any tangible results anytime soon, according to one high-profile member of President Raul Castro's administration.
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