Holy Father Pope Francis, in a message for the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos, says it is vital to safeguard the dignity of the human person, in particular by offering to all people real opportunities for integral human development. His Holiness Pope Francis noted that this year’s theme Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World is very timely adding that “at the level of global governance, we are increasingly aware that there is a growing fragmentation between States and Institutions.”
As reported by Vatican Radio, Holy Father Pope Francis remarked that “The recurring financial instabilities, have brought new problems and serious challenges that governments must confront, such as the growth of unemployment, the increase in various forms of poverty, the widening of the socio-economic gap and new forms of slavery, often rooted in situations of conflict, migration and various social problems.” Further, His Holiness added, “Men and women risk being reduced to mere cogs in a machine that treats them as items of consumption to be exploited, with the result that – as is so tragically apparent – whenever a human life no longer proves useful for that machine, it is discarded with few qualms.”
His Holiness Pope Francis concluded his message by reminding the Forum that “This is the right moment to put into action our responsibility to contribute to the development of humanity.”
