Pope Francis: Tax cuts for the rich and tax havens are structures of sin

Pope Francis participated in a meeting in the Vatican with Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and economy ministers from around the world.

The pope delivered a strong speech which emphasized people cannot sit back in a world in which more and more people are plunged in misery, when the wealth of a small minority continues to increase.

POPE FRANCIS
“The main message of hope I want to share with you is precisely this: these are solvable problems, not ones from a lack of resources. There is no determinism that condemns us to universal inequity. Let me repeat: we are not condemned to universal inequity.”

Therefore, he appealed for collective responsibility. He asked each person to do his or her part in putting a finger in the wound of the problem with a very concrete statement.

POPE FRANCIS
"If there is extreme poverty in the midst of wealth, also extreme wealth, it is because we have allowed the gap to widen, until it has become the largest in history."

The pope criticized welfare only being for a select few. He asked financial organizations and governments to work for the common good, social justice and integral development, so they do not to become structures of sin.

POPE FRANCIS
“Structures of sin today include repeated tax cuts for the richest people, often justified in the name of investment and development; tax havens for private and corporate profits, and the possibility of corruption by some of the largest companies in the world, often in tune with some dominant political sector.”

Finally, he asked for a renewal of the economy and finances, so they collaborate in searching for humanizing solutions to humanity's problems.