• 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 a group of scholars participating in a conference on sustainable finance sponsored by the Centesimus Annus Foundation at the Vatican June 3, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope: Church must understand financial systems, not just criticize them

June 4, 2024
By Justin McLellan
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) — Catholics will not positively influence fiscal policy unless they also develop an intricate knowledge of the financial system’s weaknesses and flaws, Pope Francis said.

For Catholic social teaching to become a “compass” for financial structures and policy, he said, “it is necessary not to stop at exhortations but to be able to look at the workings of finance, to expose its weaknesses and imagine concrete corrections.”

The pope’s comments came in a meeting June 3 with participants in a conference on sustainable finance sponsored by the Centesimus Annus Foundation, a Vatican nonprofit organization that seeks to promote the church’s social teaching on finance and economics.

He praised the group’s goal of combining “effectiveness and efficiency with holistic sustainability, inclusivity and ethics,” in dialogue with the upper echelons of the finance world.

Pope Francis cited an example of how ethics shaped financial practices, recalling how Spanish theologians criticized the wool trade in the 16th century for not adequately paying sheepherders.

“They denounced that financial system, showing its weaknesses and calling for greater equity,” he said. “The Spanish theologians were able to intervene because they knew about that labor process; they did not just say ‘we must seek the common good’ but explained what was wrong and called for precise actions of change for the common good.”

Speaking to the scholars, Pope Francis said that their merit comes from their knowledge of financial systems, which brings with it great responsibility.  

“It is up to you to figure out how to make inequality decrease,” he said.

Quoting his 2013 apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium,” the pope told them, “Money should serve, not govern.”

Pope Francis also encouraged them not to lose sight of the tangible effects of financial reform, since “the fate of the poorest, of people struggling to find the means for a dignified life, is at stake.”

Read More Vatican News

A sower of light in the shadows

Filled with hope, Christians know cries of the innocent will be heard, pope says

Pope calls for ceasefire, dialogue, peace after church hit in Gaza

Stop the hatred; humanity is at stake, Pope Leo says in video message

New Catholic scouting patch honors Pope Leo XIV

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

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

Justin McLellan

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 |

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

  • Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

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

  • Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

  • NBC’s Tom Llamas says Catholic education deepened his faith, pushed him to always do his best

| Latest Local News |

Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

Lay associates journey with the Oblate Sisters of Providence

Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

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

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

| Latest World News |

Whatever the genre, Dion’s music still focuses on life’s larger questions

When it comes to serving students with disabilities, how are Catholic schools doing?

Tolton ambassadors renew goal to promote, pray for famed Black priest’s canonization

NBC’s Tom Llamas says Catholic education deepened his faith, pushed him to always do his best

Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack

| 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

  • Pope Leo XIV champions media literacy
  • Whatever the genre, Dion’s music still focuses on life’s larger questions
  • A sower of light in the shadows
  • When it comes to serving students with disabilities, how are Catholic schools doing?
  • Tolton ambassadors renew goal to promote, pray for famed Black priest’s canonization
  • Creation, human and divine
  • NBC’s Tom Llamas says Catholic education deepened his faith, pushed him to always do his best
  • Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith
  • Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack

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