MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO PROFESSOR KLAUS SCHWAB
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
TO PROFESSOR KLAUS SCHWAB
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
As the World Economic Forum celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, I
send greetings and prayerful good wishes to all taking part in this
year’s gathering. I thank you for your invitation to participate and
have asked Cardinal Peter Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for
Promoting Integral Human Development, to attend as the Holy See’s
representative.
In these years, the World Economic Forum has offered an opportunity
for the engagement of diverse stakeholders to explore innovative and
effective ways of building a better world. It has also provided an arena
where political will and mutual cooperation
can be guided and strengthened in overcoming the isolationism, individualism and ideological colonization that sadly characterizes too much contemporary debate.
can be guided and strengthened in overcoming the isolationism, individualism and ideological colonization that sadly characterizes too much contemporary debate.
In light of the ever growing and interrelated challenges affecting our world (cf. Laudato Si’,
138 ff.), the theme you have chosen to consider this year –
Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World – points to the need
for a greater engagement at all levels in order to address more
effectively the diverse issues facing humanity. Throughout the past five
decades, we have witnessed geopolitical transformations and significant
changes, from the economy and labour markets to digital technology and
the environment. Many of these developments have benefitted humanity,
while others have had adverse effects and created significant
development lacunae. While today’s challenges are not the same as those
of half a century ago, a number of features remain relevant as we begin a
new decade.
The overriding consideration, never to be forgotten, is that we are
all members of the one human family. The moral obligation to care for
one another flows from this fact, as does the correlative principle of
placing the human person, rather than the mere pursuit of power or
profit, at the very centre of public policy. This duty, moreover, is
incumbent upon business sectors and governments alike, and is
indispensable in the search for equitable solutions to the challenges we
face. As a result it is necessary to move beyond short-term
technological or economic approaches and to give full consideration to
the ethical dimension in seeking resolutions to present problems or
proposing initiatives for the future.
All too often materialistic or utilitarian visions, sometimes hidden,
sometimes celebrated, lead to practices and structures motivated
largely, or even solely, by self-interest. This typically views others
as a means to an end and entails a lack of solidarity and charity, which
in turn gives rise to real injustice, whereas a truly integral human
development can only flourish when all members of the human family are
included in, and contribute to, pursuing the common good. In seeking
genuine progress, let us not forget that to trample upon the dignity of
another person is in fact to weaken one’s own worth.
In my Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’,
I drew attention to the importance of an “integral ecology” that takes
into account the full implications of the complexity and
interconnectedness of our common home. Such a renewed and integrated
ethical approach calls for “a humanism capable of bringing together the
different fields of knowledge, including economics, in the service of a
more integral and integrating vision” (ibid., 141).
In acknowledging the achievements of the past fifty years, it is my
hope that the participants in today’s Forum, and those to be held in the
future, will keep in mind the high moral responsibility each of us has
to seek the integral development of all our brothers and sisters,
including those of future generations. May your deliberations lead to a
growth in solidarity, especially with those most in need, who experience
social and economic injustice and whose very existence is even
threatened.
To those taking part in the Forum I renew my prayerful good wishes
for a fruitful meeting and I invoke upon all of you God’s blessings of
wisdom.
From the Vatican, 15 January 2020
FRANCIS