<div><font color="Navy">Vatican sides with anti-capitalist protesters and attacks global financial system
The Vatican aligned itself with anti-capitalism protesters around the world on Monday when it condemned "the idolatry of the market" and called for a radical shake-up of the global financial system.
By Nick Squires, in Rome
5:23PM BST - 24 Oct 2011
By demanding that the worst excesses of global capitalism be reined in, the Holy See echoed the message of protesters encamped outside St Paul's Cathedral in London, the indignados of Spain and the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US.
In a forthright statement, the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace called for an end to rampant speculation, the redistribution of wealth, greater ethics and the establishment of a "central world bank" to which national banks would have to cede power.
Such an authority would have "universal jurisdiction" over governments' economic strategies.
Existing financial situations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund were outdated and no longer able to deal with the scale of the global financial crisis, which had exposed "selfishness, greed and the hoarding of goods on a grand scale".
The global financial system was riddled with injustice and failure to address that would lead to "growing hostility and even violence", which would undermine democracy.
Wealthy countries should not be allowed to wield "excessive power" over poorer nations, the Vatican said.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, the head of the pontifical council, said banks needed to question whether they were "serving the interests of humanity" in the way they operated.
The proposal was short on specific detail, beyond calling for a new tax on international financial transactions.
The Vatican hardly has an exemplary record on financial transparency and propriety.
Last year the Vatican Bank, known officially as the Institute for Religious Works, had
More...
The Vatican aligned itself with anti-capitalism protesters around the world on Monday when it condemned "the idolatry of the market" and called for a radical shake-up of the global financial system.
By Nick Squires, in Rome
5:23PM BST - 24 Oct 2011
By demanding that the worst excesses of global capitalism be reined in, the Holy See echoed the message of protesters encamped outside St Paul's Cathedral in London, the indignados of Spain and the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US.
In a forthright statement, the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace called for an end to rampant speculation, the redistribution of wealth, greater ethics and the establishment of a "central world bank" to which national banks would have to cede power.
Such an authority would have "universal jurisdiction" over governments' economic strategies.
Existing financial situations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund were outdated and no longer able to deal with the scale of the global financial crisis, which had exposed "selfishness, greed and the hoarding of goods on a grand scale".
The global financial system was riddled with injustice and failure to address that would lead to "growing hostility and even violence", which would undermine democracy.
Wealthy countries should not be allowed to wield "excessive power" over poorer nations, the Vatican said.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, the head of the pontifical council, said banks needed to question whether they were "serving the interests of humanity" in the way they operated.
The proposal was short on specific detail, beyond calling for a new tax on international financial transactions.
The Vatican hardly has an exemplary record on financial transparency and propriety.
Last year the Vatican Bank, known officially as the Institute for Religious Works, had
More...