Vatican economist says Christians must put ethics back into business

The current global economic crisis shows that capitalism without ethical grounding doesn’t work, and Christians should keep this in mind whether they are business people, policymakers or simply consumers, a top Vatican economist said. Thomas Han Hong-soon of the Vatican Prefecture for Economic Affairs said that “the root of this crisis is a moral deficit” and that when it comes to business Christians have not always followed the principles of charity and justice found in the Gospel. “Let’s start by honestly recognizing that the spirit of capitalism doesn’t agree with that of the Gospel. The heart of Christianity is love for others. The nucleus of capitalism, rather, is competition, which is the opposite of love,” Han told the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano Aug. 22.