Manila (AsiaNews) - "If the institutions of global finance, business centres and banks had had as a priority the common good of people, the global crisis would have been avoided. They exist not to make a profit but to serve the people. Profit is only a byproduct of the economy”. This is the main focus of a statement made to AsiaNews by Cardinal Gaudenzio Rosales, archbishop of Manila. He adds that " excessive greed is blinding man and distancing him from the right path”.

The crisis, which began in the autumn of 2008, is affecting not only the West but even developing countries like the Philippines. The collapse of the national economy, adds to the plight of the 10 million Filipino workers abroad. In 2009 alone more than 200 thousand of them lost their jobs and many of them were forced to return home. This has caused the impoverishment of families dependent on foreign income.

Along the lines of what the Pope says in his encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate," Msgr. Rosales claims that "it is necessary to reshape the economic framework for the future and work hard to avoid another economic crisis. He defines the encyclical "a suitable tool to focus on integral human development instead of a development centred on greed and profit."

The cardinal says the only solution to the crisis is a return to Christian values in society and the economy, the creation of a world picture in which charity and love dominate. He concludes by saying that "love is always advisable. Will there be maybe a time, place, a condition in which charity will no longer be needed? Some people think that in a future when the ideals of community and society will be built on peace and justice, a future where there will be enough for everyone, there will be no need for charity. The Church believes otherwise; that there will never be situations where the charity of every Christian will not be necessary because, in addition to justice man needs, and will always need love".