Vatican City, May 5, 2010 / 14:32 pm
Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, presented the highlights of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences' annual full assembly on Wednesday at a press conference in the Vatican. She highlighted academy's the observation that a strictly "financialized approach" to the world “not only narrows the vision of the human person, but creates instability in the economy.”
The academy's meetings were focused on Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical “Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth) and its insights on the economy. In this document, explained Glendon, "Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the moral and juridical framework" of the economy.
The academy sought to examine this encyclical and also deliberate on elements of the Holy Father's address to them last week.
Speaking to the academy members of the reasons for the economic crisis, Pope Benedict XVI said that the experience has "shown the error of the assumption that the market is capable of regulating itself, apart from public intervention and the support of internalized moral standards."