MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pope Francis tells PM Cameron, money, politics and economics must serve, not rule

The letter was in response to one sent by PM Cameron ahead of the Northern Ireland G8 summit

Money, politics and economics must serve, not rule. They must serve people and promote an ethics of truth. This was the thread running through Pope Francis Letter to the British Prime Minister on the eve of the G8 Summit.

Pope Francis letter was in response to one sent by David Cameron ahead of the Northern Ireland summit which brings together the leaders of the eight most powerful nations in the world to the banks of Lough Erne.

In his letter, Pope Francis praises the priorities on the agenda of the British G8 Presidency: the free international market, taxation, and transparency on the part of governments and economic actors; concerted action to eliminate hunger and ensure food security and the protection of women and children from sexual violence in conflict situations.

In that effect Pope Francis writes that the G8 “cannot fail to address the situation in the Middle East, especially in Syria”.

He expresses the hope that the Summit will help to obtain “an immediate and lasting cease-fire and to bring all parties in the conflict to the negotiating table”. “Peace is an essential pre-requisite for the protection of women, children and other innocent victims”, and “conquering hunger”.

Pope Francis writes that “in a seemingly paradoxical way, free and disinterested solidarity is the key to the smooth functioning of the global economy”.

As such he concludes his letter “every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the planet with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one's own human potential. This is the main thing; in the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless”.