Pope: It’s ‘intolerable’ markets have the power to decide people’s fate

Pope Francis said it was “increasingly intolerable” that the world’s financial markets have the power to determine people’s fate instead of being at the service of people’s needs.

He also criticized the way “the few derive immense wealth from financial speculation while the many are deeply burdened by the consequences.”

The pope called on governments to create an investment market that has a positive impact on people’s lives and to combat “an economy which excludes and discards” others.
Pope Francis met June 16 with experts taking part in a two-day conference in Rome on “impact investing,” which promotes investing in companies, organizations and funds that will have a positive and measureable impact on communities and the environment.

The June 16-17 conference, “Investing in the Poor: How Impact Investing Can Serve the Common Good in Light of ‘Evangelii Gaudium,'” was sponsored by Catholic Relief Services, the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

“It is important that ethics once again play its due part in the world of finance and that markets serve the interests of peoples and the common good of humanity,” the pope said. “It is increasingly intolerable that financial markets are shaping the destiny of peoples rather than serving their needs, or that the few derive immense wealth from financial speculation while the many are deeply burdened by the consequences.”

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