“If Europeans wish to come out of this crisis”, the final message reads, “they must understand that a shift in lifestyle is needed”. The crisis may “become the opportunity for giving rise to a healthy sense of awareness. Europeans need to attribute meaning to economic actions from the perspective of a holistic and not partial vision of the human person and his dignity. By placing the person where he should be, and subordinating the economy to objectives of integral development in solidarity, directing culture towards the search for what is true, giving space to civil society and the ingenuity of citizens operating for the well-being of their contemporaries, they will create the conditions for the rise of a new type of relationship with money, production and consumption”. In this shift, “priority must be given to employment. It will be appropriate to privilege activities geared at generating jobs. Every person should be able to live in a dignified way and to realise their potential through work in solidarity with others. Any form of corruption or exploitation must be eliminated”. Consequently the market must not be “a blind and anonymous force” but “must be regulated so as to foster the integral development of the human person”. Furthermore, “it is no longer acceptable to waste the resources of creation and to pollute the environment we live in as we are doing now”. (continued)

08/06/2012 -