Therefore, the proper orientation of reason can never be absent from any area of human activity. Moreover, human rationality searches, in truth and justice, for the solid foundation that sustains its operation and maintains its sense of direction.

The shared human reason, that ineffaceably characterizes every person, demands an enlightened discernment in this regard. In order to liberate every realm of human activity from the moral disorder that so often afflicts it, the Church recognizes among her primary duties the responsibility to call everyone, with humble certainty, to clear ethical principles. This is all the more evident where human beings, despite striving wholeheartedly for the good and the true, often succumb to vested interests, tyrannies, and iniquitous practices that cause grave suffering for all humanity, and especially for the weak and defenceless. This ethical order, rooted in the wisdom of God the Creator, is therefore the indispensable foundation for building a worthy community of persons, regulated by truly just laws.

From the solid and indispensable basis of such an order arise the clear and common principles that establish the fundamental rights and duties of the human person without which the control and abuse of the most powerful would come to dominate the entire human scene. The Church pursues this aim with the certainty that in every culture, there are multiple areas of ethical agreement that express a common moral wisdom and form the objective order upon which the dignity of the person is founded. Love for society and commitment to the common good are eminent forms of a charity that affects not only relationships between individuals but also ‘macro-relationships, social, economic and political ones’.” That is why the Church sets before the world the ideal of a ‘civilization of love’.” Love for the integral good, inseparable from love for the truth, is the key to authentic development.ģ. This love for society “makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world. Such well-being flourishes as an anticipation of the Kingdom of God, which the Church is called to proclaim and establish in every sphere of human enterprise, and is the special fruit of that charity which, as the bright path of ecclesial action, is expressed even in the social, civil and political realms.

Eph 1:10), lies the ultimate goal of every ecclesial activity. In the fullness of the good, which has its origin and consummation in God and is fully revealed in Jesus Christ, the head over all things (cf. The integral development of every person, of every human community, and of all people, is the ultimate horizon of the common good that the Church, as the “universal sacrament of salvation,” seeks to advance. But where it exists, it can foster progress towards the integral and concrete well-being of the human person.Ģ. Without such a synthesis, every human activity tends to deteriorate. In this situation a synthesis of technical knowledge and human wisdom is essential. This ethical foundation needs to inform a range of persons but especially those working in the fields of economy and finance. What is needed, on the one hand, is an appropriate regulation of the dynamics of the markets and, on the other hand, a clear ethical foundation that assures a well-being realized through the quality of human relationships rather than merely through economic mechanisms that by themselves cannot attain it. Economic and financial issues draw our attention today as never before because of the growing influence of financial markets on the material well-being of most of humankind. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faithĭicastery For Promoting Integral Human DevelopmentĬonsiderations for an Ethical Discernment Regarding Some Aspects of the Present Economic-Financial Systemġ.

Define pecunia