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| Benedict XVI: good theology, funny shoes |
I can remember being on a church group set the task of making socially orientated statements. You know the groups, that make statements about justice, etc. I have a great deal of sympathy for those who make these kind of statements because most people who do are probably not well enough informed to make the statements they do! However, the cry of the poor and the desire for peace need voice. Anyway, I didn't write anything much in that group, and what I did say was seen to be too conservative. (I think the final straw for my membership of the group was supporting the invasion of Iraq, with some caveats).
Here is an interesting article on a possible new engagement between theology and economics via the Pope. It is very interesting, and makes a couple of good points. The most important is, I think, that the church hasn't really turned its mind to the ethics of a social, impersonal system of human interaction the effects of which are often unintended. A system like the market, for example. We are better at more personal relations, or the distortion of what should be more personal into something impersonal. The article is short and worth a read.
I like a lot of what Benedict XVI says, and incidentally, the article mentioned above speaks highly of
Caritas in Veritate, in regards the rapprochement between market economics and theology. The author says that many influential business and finance leaders have found it helpful, and not just Roman Catholics.
