Pope asks for lasting financial answers

POPE BENEDICT XVI has challenged world leaders to make significant changes to the global financial system, saying short-term answers to the financial crisis weren’t sufficient.

“It’s not enough, as Jesus said, to put patches on an old suit,” Benedict said in his New Year’s Day blessing to thousands of people huddled under umbrellas in St Peter’s Square.

Echoing a similar theme in his New Year’s Day homily, Benedict said the crisis should be seen as a test case about the future of globalisation.

He asked: “Are we ready to make a profound revision in the dominant development model, to correct it in a far-sighted and concerted way?”

He also said the health of the planet required such a correction, as well as what he called the “cultural and moral crisis” in which the world finds itself.

Benedict has spoken out frequently about the financial crisis, and he used the Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace, celebrated on New Year’s Day, underlining his belief that the meltdown showed the need for greater solidarity with the poor.

Benedict also said he was praying for an end to the violence in Gaza and said he hoped the international community would come forward with concrete proposals so the Israelis and Palestinians could live in peace, security and dignity.

Speaking at a peace Mass in Cork, Bishop John Buckley said after a time of great prosperity we are now experiencing a serious economic change.

He said the financial crisis was first and foremost a moral crisis during which “we have allowed greed to become the driving force”.

“Profit seems to be the only motivation. We were using tomorrow’s income to pay for what we wanted today.

“The parable in the gospel about the house being built on sand is one that we easily identify with at this time.”

Bishop Buckley said God does not want poverty and unemployment, these are consequences of human action and human greed.

“When prosperity comes again, as it eventually will, it will be more sustainable because it will be grounded on moral and ethical principles. There will also be implications for employers and employees in relation to competitiveness and work practices.

“Increased wealth does not mean increased happiness. Genuine happiness consists more in giving that in receiving. Our anxiety about the present situation will help us to focus more clearly on what really matters,” said Bishop Buckley.