Vatican City
Reuters
Pope Francis on Wednesday urged political, economic and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos to look beyond profit and try to heal an “increasingly lacerated” world with moral and ethical decisions.
Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer at the Vatican, on 7th January, 2024. PICTURE: Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters
In his message to the world’s movers and shakers meeting at the Swiss resort, Francis urged them to tackle the “injustices that are at the root causes of conflict”, primarily hunger and the exploitation of natural resources for the benefit of the few.
“Sadly, as we look around, we find an increasingly lacerated world, in which millions of persons – men, women, fathers, mothers, children – whose faces are for the most part unknown to us, continue to suffer, not least from the effects of prolonged conflicts and actual wars,” Francis, 87, wrote.
Francis, who has made defence of the poor and immigrants one of the hallmarks of his 11-year-old papacy, said globalisation must have a “fundamentally moral dimension” in economic, cultural and political discussions taking place at the WEF.
States and businesses had to join together in promoting “far-sighted and ethically sound” models of globalisation that place the common good over the “pursuit of power and individual gain,” he said.
“How is it possible that in today’s world people are still dying of hunger, being exploited, condemned to illiteracy, lacking basic medical care, and left without shelter?” he asked.
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The Argentine-born Pope, the first from the Global South, said the world situation required that “businesses themselves be increasingly guided not simply by the pursuit of fair profit, but also by high ethical standards”.
The “widespread exploitation” of male, female and child labourers with low wages and no real prospects for personal and professional development must stop, he said.
“It is my hope, then, that the participants in this year’s Forum will be mindful of the moral responsibility that each of us has in the fight against poverty, the attainment of an integral development for all our brothers and sisters, and the quest for a peaceful coexistence among peoples,” he said.
Meanwhile, in other comments on Wednesday, the Pope condemned the Iranian missile attack on the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, and urged all parties to avoid an escalation of conflicts in the Middle East.
The strike has deepened worries about worsening instability across the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on 7th October, with Iran’s allies also entering the fray from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
“I express my closeness and solidarity with the victims, all civilians, of the missile attack that hit an urban area of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan,” Francis said during his weekly audience at the Vatican.
“Good relations between neighbours are not built with similar actions, but with dialogue and collaboration. I ask everyone to avoid any step that fuels tension in the Middle East and other war scenarios,” he added.
Francis called for prayers for the “many victims of war”, mentioning specifically Ukraine, Gaza and other Palestinian territory, and Israel.
