Pope Francis urges global redistribution of wealth

'Economy of exclusion' and 'throwaway culture' criticized in meeting with UN chief.

Vatican City:  Pope Francis encouraged the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon and other UN executives whom he received in the Vatican today, to promote “a true, worldwide ethical mobilization” that will spread and put into practice a shared ideal of fraternity and solidarity, especially with regard to the poorest and those most excluded,” rejecting an “economy of exclusion”, a “culture of waste” and a “culture of death”.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio received the executives from the United Nations Agencies, Funds and Programmes on Friday, led by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the Consistory hall in the Apostolic Palace. The UN body has about fifty officials, ranging from the president of the World Bank to the head of of the World Health Organisation, which is currently its biannual meeting in Rome.

The audience takes place just days after the Holy See’s meeting with the UN Committee Against Torture, held earlier this week. At this meeting the Vatican delegation responded to a number of questions relating to the sex abuse committed by members of the Catholic clergy against minors. Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed “there is absolutely no connection” between that meeting and today’s.

“I thank all of you, who are primarily responsible for the international system, for the great efforts being made to ensure world peace, respect for human dignity, the protection of persons, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, and harmonious economic and social development,” Pope Francis said addressing his audience in Spanish.

He praised “the results of the Millennium Development Goals, especially in terms of education and the decrease in extreme poverty,” as these “confirm the value of the work of coordination carried out by this Chief Executives Board.” But he also urged them to bear in mind “that the world’s peoples deserve and expect even greater results.

“In the case of global political and economic organization, much more needs to be achieved, since an important part of humanity does not share in the benefits of progress and is in fact relegated to the status of second-class citizens. Future Sustainable Development Goals must therefore be formulated and carried out with generosity and courage, so that they can have a real impact on the structural causes of poverty and hunger, attain more substantial results in protecting the environment, ensure dignified and productive labour for all, and provide appropriate protection for the family, which is an essential element in sustainable human and social development.

"Specifically, this involves challenging all forms of injustice and resisting the “economy of exclusion”, the “throwaway culture” and the “culture of death” which nowadays sadly risk becoming passively accepted.”

Source: Vatican Insider