Benedict denounces ‘profit before people’

POPE Benedict denounced economic structures that put profits ahead of people yesterday at the start of a trip to recession-hit Spain where the costs of the pontiff’s visit have sparked violent protests.

“The economy cannot be measured by the maximum profit but by the common good,” Benedict told journalists on the plane taking him to Madrid at the start of a four-day visit centred around the Roman Catholic Church’s World Youth Day festivities.

“The economy cannot function only with mercantile self-regulation but needs an ethical reason in order to work for man,” he said.