Pope Benedict: unlike great banks, the Word of God doesn't fail

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Vatican City, Oct 6, 2008 / 01:01 pm (CNA).- On Monday Pope Benedict XVI briefly remarked on the financial crisis during the opening of the first General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. In the aftermath of the “fall of the great banks,” he reminded synod attendees that money is of “secondary importance” to the Word of God, which he called the “foundation of all reality.”

The Pope referenced Christ’s words at the close of the Sermon on the Mount in which he speaks of building one’s house’s foundation upon sand or upon rock.

“Those who build on sand do so only on visible and tangible things: on success, career and money,” the Pope explained.

“These seem to true reality, but one day they will pass away", he continued.

"We see this now with the fall of the great banks. Money disappears, it becomes nothing. And thus all these things which seem to be real and upon which we can rely, are in fact of secondary importance.

“All human things, all things we can invent and create are finite. So too all human religious experiences are finite. They show only one aspect of reality, because our limited being understands only some parts, some elements.

“Only God is infinite and through him, his Word too is universal and knows no end,” Pope Benedict remarked.

“Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, stable like heaven. Therefore we must change our concept of reality. A realist is one who recognizes that the Word of God - this reality that appears so weak - is in fact the foundation of everything.”

Comments: 2

Subscriber comments:

Published by: Dan in Calgary
Calgary Alberta Canada 10/06/2008 02:51 PM EST

The Pope's words hit home in ways that maybe he wasn't contemplating.

To me, the "sand" here is all those millions of questionable mortgages given to low-income Americans so that they too could own their home like other Americans, even if they did not have the income needed to afford one. This was seeded by the Democrats during the Clinton years. Freddie Mac and Fannie May were prime players - no income, no job, no assets - no problem!

Certainly, there was no shortage of greedy salesmen eager to earn commissions for selling houses and placing these mortgages. However, as this financial sludge grew and neared critical mass, one series of financial institutions and investors after another played "hot potato" it, selling it off in pieces to willing and unknowledgeable buyers before it blew up. Meantime, regulators under the watches of both Republicans and Democrats, intimidated by the political consequences of inevitably being seen to deny mortgages to, or foreclose on, visibly disadvantaged groups hoped that it would go away.

Well, you can't turn sand into a solid rock foundation.

This tragedy was NOT CAUSED by the free market which always seeks rocks and never sand. This is a tragedy initiated by well-meaning Democrat do-gooders MESSING with the free market and making sand. Now, we will all sink together into the sand, and there will be very few left among us with the financial capability of aiding the poor.

Dan in Calgary

Published by: Tom Allen
Chesterfield 10/06/2008 02:44 PM EST

This story is ridiculous. Yes, all monetary systems so far are based on faith in the system. Many have collapsed. BUT, so have religions. How many people believe in ancient Egyptian Gods?

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