One World Religion Watch: Francis, "This Is a Journey Of Unity & BrotherHood With Islam!"
Francis is an antipope. Those following Vatican II are being "suckered into" the formal New Age Religion coming...
“Thank you for your company and the work you do to help so many people understand what this journey is about, what has been done and what has been said.”
“People follow you,” the Pope added, “and this trip carries a special expectation. It is a trip made on the invitation of the President of the Republic, of Pope Tawadros II, of the patriarch of the Copts of Alexandria, of the Patriarch of Catholic Copts and of the Great Imam Of Al Azhar. Four people have invited me.”
“This is a journey of unity and brotherhood - concluded Bergoglio - thank you for your work that will be very intense in these less than two days.”
On the doorstep of Santa Marta, before leaving the Vatican, Francis had been greeted by a group of nine immigrants of Egyptian origins.
Francis’ mission to Egypt to revive dialogue with Islam
At three weeks from the attacks in the churches, the Pope in Cairo
will not ride on an armored vehicle. At the university of Al Azhar
meeting with the great Imam Al-Tayyeb and Patriarch Tawadros II
A super-armored visit, though Francis will not use any armored vehicles, another way to say no to fundamentalist terrorism who abuses the name of God to justify hate and violence. A
two-day mission to Cairo, three weeks from the latest attacks that
bloodied the Coptic Sunday Palms. The Pope of Rome flies, once again
with Alitalia, to Egypt. A trip that has never been called into question by the recent bombings,
as Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said on the eve of departure:
“Many thought that after the bloody and brutal attacks that shook Egypt
the Pope might have called in question his journey. Instead, he never thought of doing so, exactly because he wants to be present where there are situations of violence or conflict. And he wants to be a messenger of peace where there is more need for peace.”
Terrorism, dialogue with Islam, and the ecumenical embrace with the Christians of the Coptic Church are the themes of a journey which culminates today with Francis’ intervention at the Peace Conference convened by Ahmed al Tayyeb, the great imam of Al Azhar, Egypt’s prestigious Sunni University. Immediately afterwards, a meeting with the Egyptian political authorities and civil society is scheduled. With the Pontiff, the protagonists of these first two moments will be the Great Imam and President Abdel Fattah at Sisi, the latter committed to restrain the jihadist threat by asking for greater clarity and determination from the Islamic theologians of Al Azhar in condemning terrorism.
The Pope knows well who his two interlocutors are and is fully aware of the compelling need for a greater common commitment in the condemnation of those who kill in the name of God. As he has done so far, Francis will focus on the need to stem terrorist fundamentalism and ensure security for the Egyptian citizens, as well as on the most profound causes of the malaise, such as poverty, lack of education, arms trafficking, and the importance of building a society that is right, respectful of everyone’s rights and guarantor of religious freedom (HERESY). Precisely from the peculiarity of Egypt and its history, the Pope might urge authorities to engage in peace in the region, in an effort to enhance the efforts of president Sisi.
The third appointment is the meeting with Tawadros II, the Pope of the Orthodox Coptic Church, who in recent years has paid a high tribute of victims, faithful who were killed while in church to participate to the liturgy. Francis coined the expression “the ecumenism of blood” in reference to the martyrdom that unites Christians of different confessions. The Coptics are an ancient and socially well-represented Church in the country, consisting of about ten million faithful, who have never felt as a persecuted minority nor an outpost of the West. Coptic means Egyptian, and the Christians of this ancient community proudly claim their origins in this land. They have suffered attacks and today they support President Sisi’s effort. Finally, tomorrow the visit ends with two meetings with the Catholic Coptic community, including a mass in a super-armored stadium where 25,000 people are expected to attend.
Terrorism, dialogue with Islam, and the ecumenical embrace with the Christians of the Coptic Church are the themes of a journey which culminates today with Francis’ intervention at the Peace Conference convened by Ahmed al Tayyeb, the great imam of Al Azhar, Egypt’s prestigious Sunni University. Immediately afterwards, a meeting with the Egyptian political authorities and civil society is scheduled. With the Pontiff, the protagonists of these first two moments will be the Great Imam and President Abdel Fattah at Sisi, the latter committed to restrain the jihadist threat by asking for greater clarity and determination from the Islamic theologians of Al Azhar in condemning terrorism.
The Pope knows well who his two interlocutors are and is fully aware of the compelling need for a greater common commitment in the condemnation of those who kill in the name of God. As he has done so far, Francis will focus on the need to stem terrorist fundamentalism and ensure security for the Egyptian citizens, as well as on the most profound causes of the malaise, such as poverty, lack of education, arms trafficking, and the importance of building a society that is right, respectful of everyone’s rights and guarantor of religious freedom (HERESY). Precisely from the peculiarity of Egypt and its history, the Pope might urge authorities to engage in peace in the region, in an effort to enhance the efforts of president Sisi.
The third appointment is the meeting with Tawadros II, the Pope of the Orthodox Coptic Church, who in recent years has paid a high tribute of victims, faithful who were killed while in church to participate to the liturgy. Francis coined the expression “the ecumenism of blood” in reference to the martyrdom that unites Christians of different confessions. The Coptics are an ancient and socially well-represented Church in the country, consisting of about ten million faithful, who have never felt as a persecuted minority nor an outpost of the West. Coptic means Egyptian, and the Christians of this ancient community proudly claim their origins in this land. They have suffered attacks and today they support President Sisi’s effort. Finally, tomorrow the visit ends with two meetings with the Catholic Coptic community, including a mass in a super-armored stadium where 25,000 people are expected to attend.
Christ at the Center of society? NOPE!
Man, Finances and Economics at the center of society ? BINGO
Vatican II= Man centered religion
Economics, a finance at the service of humankind is possible
At the conference promoted by Vatican Insider and Valore, the
proposals for ethical management of financial processes able to put the
person at the center. Cardinal Coccopalmerio: “An Ethical activity
promotes and protects vital assets”
In a season marked by a profound
economic and social crisis, is it possible to propose financial models
based on the common good, with a strong ethical profile, able to look to
people and society’s good rather than pure profit? The answer,
at least part of it, is positive, but it is a path to be built from
scratch along with some already existing good examples and many ongoing
try-outs. This is the picture
emerged from the conference organized by Vatican Insider with Valore
Srl, entitled: "Humanity for Finance or Finance for humanity? Ethics and
financial management. Experiences in Health Care”. The meeting,
held at the Columbus Hotel, just a stone's throw from St. Peter's, saw
the participation of several speakers - moderated by Luca Pierazzi of
Advance Sim – who shared a few common fixed points. First and foremost, how the current economic model is causing enormous inequalities as
Roberto Carulli, head of analysis and negotiating office of the Apsa
(the Apostolic Office's Asset Management) reminded, "1% of the
population now owns 46% of world wealth."
Then, the need for a reconciliation of finance in ethical terms to overcome the primacy of speculation per se, along with the possibility of experimenting in this field with investment models that take into account principles such as, among others, respect for human life and human and workers' rights, protection of the environment, recognition of the social value of a business, ability to combine profit to common good, and sharing. In this direction, for example, the French Bishops' Conference entrusted Allianz Global Investors to develop - on the basis of certain ethical parameters - a profitable financial investment framed within certain well defined principles . It is the same road followed by the Ior, the Institute for Religious Works, which has established a set of qualitative and ethical standards in the financial field.
Ior’s choice
How the Ior is moving along these years of change and reform, was explained by Giorgio Majorano. The financial officer chief of the institute focused on the financial management guidelines divided into four chapters: ethical criteria, investing prudence, operational limits, and the safeguarding of reputational risk. Investment are avoided in areas regarding tobacco, gambling, adult entertainment, weapons, nuclear energy, the pharmaceutical sector, where there are oppressive regimes, and projects that do not protect human rights. Investments are favored "in initiatives that promote the preservation of the environment, social development and bring aid to the disadvantaged groups of the population". The Ior portfolio consists essentially of bonds, of which at least 60% are of the government's, while investments in 'financial derivatives' are not allowed.
Majorano explained how in recent years finance has made radical changes in important areas such as anti-money laundering, and how the Ior has adjusted accordingly. Among other things, a department of risk management has been established and safeguard parameters have been defined by the Board of Supervisors. Now the Vatican institute has relationships only with top standing banks, that are more than safe, while several "filters" are used to assess the companies on which they invest. There is, among other things, a grid of three criteria to be taken into account: governance, social and climatic impact assessment. The fine-tuning of the parameters will become operational this year.
The Keynes model is better than the Monetarist one
"The Church's magisterium is more in line with the Keynesian theoretical framework with its vision of a functional finance within the economy, unlike the neoclassical-monetarist one, where the vision of an end-to-end finance prevails." This is what Carulli from APSA explained outlining the principles of Christian ethics in relation to the world of finance. Among the ethical principles he referenced, Carulli also listed the exclusion of investments in companies which research on embryonic stem cell, practice abortion, produce alcohol or exploit child labor. He then reaffirmed the essential principles of the Church's social doctrine, according to which the guiding principles for the growth of a society are: the centrality of the person, dignity, responsibility and freedom of the person, the common purpose of economic goods and the right of property, justice and truth. It is precisely according to these same criteria of financial investment and ethical management of goods that Apsa operates, who in recent years has been following the other Vatican institutions on the path of maximum transparency in resource management and system modernization according to international standards.
How can we define what is ethical?
Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts answered to this question by affirming that one has to look at "vital goods such as life, bodily integrity, freedom, and health". Then "there are indispensable personal goods, including food, water, medicine." Accordingly, "ethical discourse is based the concept that every human activity is ethical to the extend it protects and promotes vital assets". However, there is another element of not easy definition, and that is “in what way are certain goods established vital?” “To understand this - the cardinal said - one has to take in consideration the person.
Vladi Lumina, member of the Commission for the Public Health Care Activities of the Church, investigated on the state of the global economy pointing out that today many aspects of capitalism are in deep crisis, leading to a rethinking of the overall economic model. On this front, he observed, religions can do a lot because there is a shared core of values and common principles, such as the centrality of the person. "I think - Lumina said - that we can all agree how today's capital and capitalism is very different from the eighty-twentieth-century in the sense that, as demonstrated by the Lehman Brothers crisis since 2008, the capital which sustains the whole system is in fact public therefore the risk of losses is collectivized while the profits and wealth remain in the hands of those who have been able to use the right financial and relational leverage, sometimes even by simply being mediators in the redistribution of public resources”.
"If we tried to disassemble the system of interests and some annuities and, above all, change the system of access to capital, we would have created a participatory and community system." An analogous approach can be made to Catholic health that in Italy is undergoing a crisis, but may be able to reconstruct an economic and social alternative (an ecosystem) starting from the centrality of the person. In general, the welfare of Catholic structures around the world is a huge force that can produce potentially significant global changes and affect the financial system.
Two round tables completed the conference, the first dedicated to the world of integrative healthcare and welfare, and the second on ethics and financial management. Anna Maria Trovò, Vice President of the Fondo San. Arti, intervened on the theme: the experience of supplementary health funds born on the initiative of the social partners; followed by Michele Carpinetti, President of Cassa QuAS, who spoke about contractual welfare, the role of the social partners and the non-profit mission of the QuAS Healthcare Fund. Finally, Mario Mantovani, vice president of Manageritalia, has dealt the theme of the social role of representation.
Simone Esposito, product specialist, SRI and Impact Investing of Selectra Management Company SA, took the floor on ethics and finance. Esposito described the origins of ethical finance up to the latest market innovations. After that, Isabel Reuss, SRI Senior Portfolio Manager - European Equities - of Allianz Global Investors, described the ethical approach to Allianz's investment and spoke of the relationship established with the French Bishops' Conference; asking to identify a hierarchy of possible ethical investments after providing some principles as point of reference, which have led Allianz to build a tailor-made investment model - ethically compatible with respect for human rights, the environment, and so on. - which has ultimately had a positive performance, proof that ethics is not an alternative to profit. Before recessing for the day, Luigi Pagani of JC Capital opportunity fund talked about healthcare receivables.
Then, the need for a reconciliation of finance in ethical terms to overcome the primacy of speculation per se, along with the possibility of experimenting in this field with investment models that take into account principles such as, among others, respect for human life and human and workers' rights, protection of the environment, recognition of the social value of a business, ability to combine profit to common good, and sharing. In this direction, for example, the French Bishops' Conference entrusted Allianz Global Investors to develop - on the basis of certain ethical parameters - a profitable financial investment framed within certain well defined principles . It is the same road followed by the Ior, the Institute for Religious Works, which has established a set of qualitative and ethical standards in the financial field.
Ior’s choice
How the Ior is moving along these years of change and reform, was explained by Giorgio Majorano. The financial officer chief of the institute focused on the financial management guidelines divided into four chapters: ethical criteria, investing prudence, operational limits, and the safeguarding of reputational risk. Investment are avoided in areas regarding tobacco, gambling, adult entertainment, weapons, nuclear energy, the pharmaceutical sector, where there are oppressive regimes, and projects that do not protect human rights. Investments are favored "in initiatives that promote the preservation of the environment, social development and bring aid to the disadvantaged groups of the population". The Ior portfolio consists essentially of bonds, of which at least 60% are of the government's, while investments in 'financial derivatives' are not allowed.
Majorano explained how in recent years finance has made radical changes in important areas such as anti-money laundering, and how the Ior has adjusted accordingly. Among other things, a department of risk management has been established and safeguard parameters have been defined by the Board of Supervisors. Now the Vatican institute has relationships only with top standing banks, that are more than safe, while several "filters" are used to assess the companies on which they invest. There is, among other things, a grid of three criteria to be taken into account: governance, social and climatic impact assessment. The fine-tuning of the parameters will become operational this year.
The Keynes model is better than the Monetarist one
"The Church's magisterium is more in line with the Keynesian theoretical framework with its vision of a functional finance within the economy, unlike the neoclassical-monetarist one, where the vision of an end-to-end finance prevails." This is what Carulli from APSA explained outlining the principles of Christian ethics in relation to the world of finance. Among the ethical principles he referenced, Carulli also listed the exclusion of investments in companies which research on embryonic stem cell, practice abortion, produce alcohol or exploit child labor. He then reaffirmed the essential principles of the Church's social doctrine, according to which the guiding principles for the growth of a society are: the centrality of the person, dignity, responsibility and freedom of the person, the common purpose of economic goods and the right of property, justice and truth. It is precisely according to these same criteria of financial investment and ethical management of goods that Apsa operates, who in recent years has been following the other Vatican institutions on the path of maximum transparency in resource management and system modernization according to international standards.
How can we define what is ethical?
Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts answered to this question by affirming that one has to look at "vital goods such as life, bodily integrity, freedom, and health". Then "there are indispensable personal goods, including food, water, medicine." Accordingly, "ethical discourse is based the concept that every human activity is ethical to the extend it protects and promotes vital assets". However, there is another element of not easy definition, and that is “in what way are certain goods established vital?” “To understand this - the cardinal said - one has to take in consideration the person.
Vladi Lumina, member of the Commission for the Public Health Care Activities of the Church, investigated on the state of the global economy pointing out that today many aspects of capitalism are in deep crisis, leading to a rethinking of the overall economic model. On this front, he observed, religions can do a lot because there is a shared core of values and common principles, such as the centrality of the person. "I think - Lumina said - that we can all agree how today's capital and capitalism is very different from the eighty-twentieth-century in the sense that, as demonstrated by the Lehman Brothers crisis since 2008, the capital which sustains the whole system is in fact public therefore the risk of losses is collectivized while the profits and wealth remain in the hands of those who have been able to use the right financial and relational leverage, sometimes even by simply being mediators in the redistribution of public resources”.
"If we tried to disassemble the system of interests and some annuities and, above all, change the system of access to capital, we would have created a participatory and community system." An analogous approach can be made to Catholic health that in Italy is undergoing a crisis, but may be able to reconstruct an economic and social alternative (an ecosystem) starting from the centrality of the person. In general, the welfare of Catholic structures around the world is a huge force that can produce potentially significant global changes and affect the financial system.
Two round tables completed the conference, the first dedicated to the world of integrative healthcare and welfare, and the second on ethics and financial management. Anna Maria Trovò, Vice President of the Fondo San. Arti, intervened on the theme: the experience of supplementary health funds born on the initiative of the social partners; followed by Michele Carpinetti, President of Cassa QuAS, who spoke about contractual welfare, the role of the social partners and the non-profit mission of the QuAS Healthcare Fund. Finally, Mario Mantovani, vice president of Manageritalia, has dealt the theme of the social role of representation.
Simone Esposito, product specialist, SRI and Impact Investing of Selectra Management Company SA, took the floor on ethics and finance. Esposito described the origins of ethical finance up to the latest market innovations. After that, Isabel Reuss, SRI Senior Portfolio Manager - European Equities - of Allianz Global Investors, described the ethical approach to Allianz's investment and spoke of the relationship established with the French Bishops' Conference; asking to identify a hierarchy of possible ethical investments after providing some principles as point of reference, which have led Allianz to build a tailor-made investment model - ethically compatible with respect for human rights, the environment, and so on. - which has ultimately had a positive performance, proof that ethics is not an alternative to profit. Before recessing for the day, Luigi Pagani of JC Capital opportunity fund talked about healthcare receivables.
Fr Hesse: Vatican II in Two Minutes
