He noted how in the 52 years since the founding of UNCTAD, new technologies have broken down the traditional borders between nations and helped open new areas of economic opportunity.
"A less polarized political landscape has provided new possibilities for worldwide trade," he said, noting that economic power "has become more dispersed, mostly due to globalization and to industrialization and rapid growth in East Asia, with corresponding changes in the workings of the international trading system."
However, the cardinal asked what forms of trade, growth and development would be able to meet the "pervasive challenges of poverty, of inequality and lack of progress," adding that the answer must always focus on the good of the human person, including that of future generations.
When it comes to safeguarding the environment and ensuring that economic affairs are ordered to the well-being of everyone, "human leadership or governance still seems to have a lot to learn," he said.
Cardinal Turkson stressed that world governance, including that of institutions belonging to the U.N., needs "to appreciate the poor," viewing them "not as a problem, but as people who can become the principal builders of a new and more human future for everyone."
Turning to the financial crisis of 2008, the cardinal said it has left "a long shadow" resulting from "a combination of ethical and technical breakdowns," which are seen in the 2016 UNCTAD report.
"Have the right lessons been learned yet?" he asked, insisting that it is not yet evident that "the organizations, institutions and decision-makers responsible for ethical and technical breakdowns have acknowledged their role, much less made the necessary repairs."
"We must do better," he said, adding that our societies must to find ways to exercising greater corporate, financial and governmental responsibility for both the economy and the environment.
"The world economy has been marooned in growth doldrums for the past six years, and this state of affairs is in growing danger of becoming accepted as the 'new normal,'" he observed.
Both dialogue and cooperation are needed in response, Cardinal Turkson said, but noted that these aren't always easy to achieve. However, "the 'old normal' of isolated sectors and competing institutions will not meet the challenges."
Integrated policies are needed, and will require both persistence and generosity from various sectors of society, including those of banking, finance, commerce, business, and politics, as well as workers, the unemployed, migrants, youth, and the elderly.
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Peace, the cardinal said, "is not the mere absence of violence. It bespeaks human fulfilment, integral in all its aspects – material, social, spiritual."
Given this fact, "trade and development must aim at the fullest human flourishing if we are ever to have real peace."
In his comments to CNA, Fr. Czerny said that while affairs surrounding economics and development are primarily the concern of politicians and world leaders, it's important for religious institutions such as the Holy See to have a voice.
"Our most important role is to encourage our members, Christians in this case, and all people of good will, to get informed and get involved," he said, adding that "too much of this stuff is happening behind our backs."
"We can't understand it, we know we don't like the results, but we haven't learned how to get in there and make our voices heard."
The priest stressed that it's the duty of Christians to be involved and informed about political issues, uniting their faith to what's happening in the political, economic, and environmental sphere.