Pope Benedict XVI said persistent world hunger was a “tragedy” driven by selfish and profit-driven economic models, whose first victims are millions of children deprived of life or good health.
As is usual with the left wing CNS, they put a spin on it.
Here is the Pope’s address to the FAO (in Italian):
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2011/july/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20110701_fao_it.html
Here is the key part that was emphasized by CNS
overty, underdevelopment and hunger are so often the result of selfish attitude that comes from the heart of man is manifested in its social action, in trade, market conditions, the lack of access to food and result in the denial of primary right of every person to eat and then to be free from hunger. How can we ignore the fact that the
food has become the subject of speculation , or is related to a financial market trends that, without clear rules and lacking in moral principles, is pegged to the single objective of profit?
Note that the Holy Father said that poverty, etc., was
so often the result of selfish attitudes…not that it was
the root cause.
Vatican Radio’s report on the same subject takes a little bit different tack:
The Pope said that poverty, underdevelopment and hunger were very often the result of a selfish attitude that comes from the heart of man and is manifested in his social action, such as in trade, and market conditions.
“How can we ignore”, the Holy Father went on to say, the fact that food has become the subject of speculation, or is related to financial market trends that, without clear rules and lacking in moral principles, is pegged to the single objective of profit?
Pope Benedict stressed that solidarity was an essential criterion for all policy and strategy especially when it comes to fears regarding instability and rising prices.
And he also underlined that a development model needs to take into account the human as well as economic and technical dimension.
Unlike the CNS report, though, Vatican Radio mentioned
all of the topics discussed by the Holy Father
ope Benedict’s speech to those gathered covered a number of issues including the revival of agriculture, poverty and hunger, food security, and rising prices.
Next gripe. The liberal CNS said this:
Meeting with the group at the Vatican, the pope strongly emphasized the ** theme of economic justice*** that has figured prominently in his encyclicals and other writings*
No. The Pope did not mention economic justice once. He spoke about
charity.
There is a big difference between
justice and
charity. From his speech:It is urgent that a development model that considers not only the extent of economic needs or reliability of the technical strategies to be pursued,
but also the human dimension of each initiative and be able to achieve true brotherhood (cf.
Caritas in Veritate, 20 ), by appealing to the ethical appeal to “feed the hungry”, which belongs to the feeling of compassion and humanity inscribed in the hearts of every person and that the Church has included among the works of mercy.
Note the reference to Caritas in Veritate 20. That paragraph states:20. These perspectives, which* Populorum Progressio* opens up, remain fundamental for giving breathing-space and direction to our commitment for the development of peoples. Moreover,* Populorum Progressio* repeatedly underlines the* urgent need for reform*, and in the face of great problems of injustice in the development of peoples, it calls for courageous action to be taken without delay. This* urgency is also a consequence of
charity in truth*. It is Christ’s
charity that drives us on: “
caritas Christi urget nos” (2 Cor 5:14). The urgency is inscribed not only in things, it is not derived solely from the rapid succession of events and problems, but also from the very matter that is at stake: the establishment of authentic fraternity.
The importance of this goal is such as to demand our openness to understand it in depth and to mobilize ourselves
at the level of the “heart”, so as to ensure that current economic and social processes evolve towards fully human outcomes.I could go on, but the point is that, as usual, CNS takes the most left-wing spin possible and spews that out rather than reporting actually what happened.
The Holy Father is calling for a civilization of love. CNS twists that into a call for international socialism.
