• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis speaks to representatives of Italian banks and credit unions dedicated to serving the community during an audience at the Vatican Dec. 16, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Banks driven by profit-at-all-costs hurt people, economy, pope says

December 17, 2024
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When the world of banking and finance crushes people instead of helping them, it betrays its very purpose and promotes an “uncivilized economy,” Pope Francis said.

“Unfortunately, in the globalized world, finance is now faceless and has become distanced from people’s lives,” he told representatives of two Italian credit unions and an “ethical” bank dedicated to serving the community and to not investing in weapons manufacturing, fossil fuels, factory farming, gambling and other harmful activities.

“When the only criterion is profit, we see negative consequences for the actual economy,” he told the representatives during an audience at the Vatican Dec. 16. The existence of poverty in a community is a sign of “a social sickness.”

“Banking institutions have the great responsibility of encouraging a logic of inclusivity and supporting an economy of peace,” he said.

“When finance tramples on people, foments inequality and distances itself from the life of its territory, it betrays its purpose,” the pope said. “It becomes, I would say, an uncivilized economy: it lacks civility.”

“There are multinational corporations that relocate their activities to places where it is easier to exploit labor, for example, putting families and communities in difficulty and invalidating labor skills that were built up over decades,” he said.

Some financial institutions risk becoming exploitative when they favor those who already have assets and guaranteed income, and exclude those “who are in difficulty and would need to be supported with credit,” he said.

There is also a risk, he said, when an institution is no longer located in the area where it was established, raising “funds in one place and moving those resources to other areas with the sole purpose of increasing its interests,” making people “feel abandoned and exploited.”

However, he said, “your presence here today speaks of a difference in business and banking” since they were established “to respond to the different needs of people.”

“Indeed, without adequate financial systems capable of inclusion and sustainability, there would be no integral human development,” Pope Francis said, because banks and credit are instrumental in supporting investments and labor “with the necessary transparency.”

“Finance is a bit like the ‘circulatory system,’ so to speak, of the economy: if it gets clogged in some places and does not circulate” throughout the entire “body” of the community, he said, there are “devastating heart attacks and ischemia” for the entire economy.

Sound finance does not engage in extortionary practices, blatant speculation and investments that harm the environment and promote wars, he said.

“The upcoming Jubilee reminds us of the need to forgive debts,” he said. “It is the condition for generating hope and a future in the lives of many people, especially the poor.”

The pope encouraged the delegations to promote trust, social justice and a sense of social responsibility, and he asked them to bring hope to those “who turn to you seeking to pick themselves up from difficult times or to revive their businesses.”

Read More Vatican News

Pope Leo visits Italian Carabinieri station, Poor Clares during summer break

Caring for others, serving life is the ‘supreme law,’ pope says

Jesus did not ignore those in need, and neither should Christians, pope says

Cardinal Czerny asks church to remember seafarers on Sea Sunday

Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war

Copyright © 2024 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Carol Glatz

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

  • superman Movie Review: Superman

  • Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

  • DUAL ENROLLMENT Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students

  • Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

| Latest Local News |

Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 

Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

Radio Interview: The music and ministry of Seph Schlueter

Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

Father Herman Benedict Czaster, former Curley teacher, dies at 86

| Latest World News |

Poll: Record-high percentage of U.S. adults say immigration good for country

Patriarchs support Christian communities attacked by Israeli settlers in solidarity visit

Pope Leo visits Italian Carabinieri station, Poor Clares during summer break

1 officer dead, 3 seminarians kidnapped after attack on Nigerian seminary

Trump administration to appeal after judge blocks ICE detentions based on race

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Poll: Record-high percentage of U.S. adults say immigration good for country
  • Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 
  • Patriarchs support Christian communities attacked by Israeli settlers in solidarity visit
  • Pope Leo visits Italian Carabinieri station, Poor Clares during summer break
  • 1 officer dead, 3 seminarians kidnapped after attack on Nigerian seminary
  • Trump administration to appeal after judge blocks ICE detentions based on race
  • Remember common decency in immigration enforcement
  • Sponsors – for life
  • Listen for God this summer

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en