Pope Francis says "The Christian gaze of the economy and of society...is born from the message of Jesus.." FULL TEXT to Business Leaders + Video

VIDEO MESSAGE FROM HOLY FATHER FRANCISCO

TO THE XXIV ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
OF BUSINESS LEADERS -ACDE
ON THE CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE SERVANT OF GOD ENRIQUE SHAW

[June 30 - July 1, 2021]

___________________________

 Dear brothers and sisters :

I have here the program of your meeting and I cannot put aside the joy that I had a short time ago to sign the heroic virtue of Enrique Shaw. I ask him to accompany them in this meeting, and to make them progress.

The Christian gaze of the economy and of society that is different from the pagan gaze or the ideological gaze, is Christian and is born from the message of Jesus, from the Beatitudes, from Matthew 25, hence the gaze is born.   

 And the construction of a just community, economically and socially for all, must be done by all: trade unionists and businessmen, workers and leaders. We have to go down the path of the social economy. Let's face it, the economy lately, in the last decades, spawned finance and finance has the risk of ending up like the San Antonio chain, right? We believe that there is a lot and in the end there is nothing. An inflation of media businesses - I am simplifying, the thing is much more complex. Return to the economy of the concrete, not lose the concrete. And what is concrete is production, everyone's work, that there is no lack of work, families, homeland, society. The concrete. In a society where there is a very large margin of poverty, one has to ask oneself how the economy is doing, if it is fair, if it is social, or simply seeks personal interests. The economy is social.

And to generate employment, the power of SMEs is important, because creativity always comes from below. Therefore, go towards the common good, with the gesture of creating employment. It is a challenge, your meeting is a challenge to creativity. Create employment, where there is a moment, the pandemic led us to this where it is missing, right?

Invest in the common good, do not hide money in tax havens. To invest. Investment is giving life, it is creating, it is creative. Know how to invest, not hide. You hide when you do not have a clear conscience or when you are angry. We all know what is said in the field when the cow does not give the milk: "What happened to the cow, because she is angry that she 'hides' the milk?". When we hide it is because something is wrong. Clarity, transparency and production. To invest. And build social trust. It is very difficult to build without social trust. Sometimes those great agreements of great companies or great investors or great people are all around the table, after hours they make the agreement, sign it, and at the moment they are toasting the agreement, the one on the side of the table with the one who is there, they make one under the table. No, confidently and never betray trust.

I hope that this meeting will serve for all that. May God bless you, Our Lady take care of you, be creative, be bold and please also pray for me. Thanks.

Source: Vatican.va