Greed, Poverty and the Global Economic Crisis

By: Katherine Marshall

November 21, 2008

Markets, economics, and economists may still command some respect in Washington but as many eminent religious leaders met in Cyprus November 16-18, few if any had a good word to say about them. Relentlessly, the world's economic system was described as valueless, harsh, erratic, and arbitrary, serving only the interests of the rich and driving the poor into deeper misery.

The economic crisis was an inevitable if somewhat discordant theme at the annual "Prayer for Peace", organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio. The meetings began when Pope John Paul II brought together leaders from all major religions in Assisi in 1986. Now, religious and other world leaders (presidents, journalists, public intellectuals, etc.) meet in a different city each year, in a remarkable blend of pageant and symbols (leaders in splendid robes lighting candles and sharing embraces), spiritual moments of deep reflection, the personal witness of people like Ingrid Betancourt, intellectual fare in the form of intense seminar style discussions and speeches, and networking and serious peace talks on the margins.

The meetings are about peace but peace seen as far more than just ending violence. Historian Andrea Riccardi, the Community of Sant'Egidio's founder, sees poverty as inseparable from peace: "If we want peace, we need to go to the poor. There can be no peace while so many millions of women, children and men face the violence of poverty." So the Cyprus agenda was as broad as they come: prayer, climate change, interfaith relations, Iraq, human rights, HIV/AIDS, you name it.

The picture painted of what is driving crisis was very different, in words and images, from those emanating from Washington and New York leader summits. In Cyprus, the villains of the piece are materialism and greed, and their progenitor and perpetrator is the market system. The market is not only broken. It is fatally flawed. The amoral and immoral character of markets and their deliberate indifference to inequity and injustice are the root cause. Other dimensions of crisis - climate change, family disintegration, sufferings of migrants, hunger, and conflict - lie at the door of the Godless "religion" of the market.

Leaders therefore called not for new financial institutions and tweaked financial architecture but for an entirely different approach anchored in humanist values and commitment to solidarity and justice.

But these calls, while sobering, are unsatisfying. Sharp contrasts between the magnificence of liturgies and religious garb and rather abstract quality of the apocalyptic images are jarring. Ironically, many leaders seem barely conscious of the real pain that poor people and countries face already and only dimly grasp the harsh realities that lie ahead. Their declamations tended often to be colored by rose colored images of bygone days. Were our ancestors really so moral, I wonder? And the solutions offered are rather paltry. Even so, the Doomsday messages reflect the deep anger that these leaders are hearing and reflecting and need to be heard.

The somber speeches were only part of the Cyprus story, however. I marveled as declamations of men who could be the prophets of old come to life, dressed in black robes with long white beards, alternated with other voices full of exuberance and hope. A Babel of different voices contrasted doom and hope. And while no one offered believable solutions to the crisis, many offered real insight and wisdom. The problems we face are devilishly complex but the crisis offers the chance for new beginnings. "A new world is possible," concluded Andrea Riccardi, "not as the fruit of magic, but rather as a patient building process..., through daily dialogue, encounter, respect for the other's freedom and diversity, through solidarity towards poor, children, and life in all its manifestations and seasons."

It's only the beginning of an answer but it inspired an exuberant close to the Cyprus Prayer for Peace, as young and old, religious and secular, east and west, north and south promised to work together, with social justice as the moral anchor. Details are pretty sketchy but with that kind of spirit the mountain may budge.

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