Archbishop: Poor pay for immorality of rich

THE Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has said the current concern over unacceptable behaviour in the financial world is an example of how individual behaviour can lead to a seriously destructive effect on the fabric of society.

In his homily at Ash Wednesday Mass in University College Dublin Dr Martin branded the activity “fundamentally immoral”.

“I do not like the ‘a little bit of recession is good for the soul’ argument,” he said.

“The tragic thing is that those who lived well in times of prosperity will live reasonably well in times of recession.

“Those who were poor or in a position of precariousness will pay the terrible price of becoming poorer and find themselves in an even more precarious situation.”

Dr Martin added that the destructive elements that have appeared in Ireland’s society and economy are the “fruits of the false paths trodden by individuals”.

“This has contributed to the creation of what Pope John Paul called ‘structures of sin’, which take on almost a life of their own,” he said.

It is not the first time the Dublin archbishop has spoken on the economy.

Last year he gave a speech urging policy-makers to come up with a “poverty strategy”.

“Without its own in-built poverty strategy at its heart, an economy will not serve society but will inevitably have an in-built tendency to self-serving.”

Speaking at the St Vincent de Paul society day, Dr Martin said a poverty strategy was not just about providing services, but about reading all policies with the optic of the risks to which the poor are likely to be exposed.