Pope Calls for a 'World Political Authority'

I’ve mentioned many times (and shown many mainstream articles) how world leaders have been speaking of the need for a new global monetary system and the need for additional oversight of financial markets. We’ve seen this from our own political and financial leaders and leaders from Europe, Asia, South America and Australia.

What should make all of us sit up and start paying attention – is that we’re now hearing the same rhetoric from the leaders of the Catholic Church. Pay very close attention to the wording of the Pope’s letter (below). The Pope is now calling for a ‘true world political authority’. I find it interesting that he mentions a ‘political authority’ to oversee world markets – not a financial authority. A ‘world political authority’ can only be referencing one thing – a world government that oversees the world’s markets.

The Pope’s remarks don’t end there. What, exactly, does ‘acquire real teeth’ mean? I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.

If you’re scratching your head and wondering why a church would make such bold statements – I would encourage you to read my posts on the ‘beasts’ of Revelation 13. It might surprise you to learn that Bible prophecy tells us that a false worldwide church will work closely with an evil worldwide political entity to bring about a world government and false world religion.

We’re watching Bible prophecy come to pass before us.

jg – July 8, 2009
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JULY 8, 2009

Pope Calls for a Group to Oversee World Markets

United Nations and Other International Bodies Need 'Real Teeth' to Prevent Future Crises, Letter From Vatican Says

By STACY MEICHTRY
Wall St. Journal

ROME -- Pope Benedict XVI issued a rare papal critique of the global economic crisis Tuesday, calling for a "true world political authority" charged with exercising greater oversight of financial markets.

Pope Benedict XVI signs a rare papal critique of the global economic crisis at the Vatican on Tuesday. He said the United Nations and other international bodies need to 'acquire real teeth' to properly monitor markets.

In a letter titled "Caritas in Veritate," or "Charity in Truth," Pope Benedict said the United Nations and other international bodies need to "acquire real teeth" to properly monitor markets, stem the current crisis and prevent future ones. "There is urgent need of a true world political authority," the pope wrote in the 44-page encyclical.

The pope is expected to give a copy of the document to President Barack Obama when the two meet at the Vatican on Friday, said Cardinal Renato Martino, a top Vatican official.

The papal push for financial reform comes on the eve of a meeting of the Group of Eight leading nations in the Italian mountain town of L'Aquila. As part of their discussions on the global economy, G-8 leaders are due to discuss recent efforts to establish new global standards for regulating international finance.

Popes seldom weigh in on economic matters and rarely in the form of an encyclical, one of the most authoritative forms of papal writing. When popes do address the economy, it is usually during moments of tectonic shift.

In 1891, Pope Leo XII wrote "Rerum Novarum," or "Of New Things," a response to Marxism in light of the economic upheaval caused by the Industrial Revolution. In 1967, Pope Paul VI issued "Populorum Progressio," a treatise on the need for economic development around the world. And in 1991, John Paul II issued "Centesimus Annus," a critique of socialism and communism following the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In "Caritas in Veritate," Pope Benedict offered a sweeping indictment of the troubles that fueled the global economic crisis, ranging from outsourced labor, to lax market regulation, to managers and financiers driven by profit and "darkened reason."

"Today's international economic scene, marked by grave deviations and failures, requires a profoundly new way of understanding business enterprise," he wrote.

The release of the document was initially planned two years ago to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical. The document underwent numerous revisions, however, as the sands shifted beneath the global economy, with the U.S. sub-prime-mortgage crisis growing into a global financial crisis.

Some observers said the pontiff's stern critique of the modern marketplace will serve as a wake-up call to financial and business leaders, particularly in the U.S.

"He's trying to develop a moral foundation to support the sustainability of free markets," said Carl Anderson, chief executive of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic order based in New Haven, Conn., and a member of several Vatican advisory bodies. "A lot of people are looking at the meeting [with Mr. Obama] in terms of issues like abortion. But a big issue with this encyclical is: Are American Catholic businessmen going to listen?"

Some analysts, however, questioned the pope's call for a world financial watchdog, noting that he stopped short of describing what form the authority should take. "I don't get the sense that Pope Benedict is very confident in [making] policy prescriptions," said Kishore Jayabalan, a former Vatican official who heads the Istituto Acton, a Rome-based think tank focused on the intersection of faith and economic policy.

The global economy will loom large at the L'Aquila meeting, which comes midway between the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations' meeting held in London in April and the next one planned for Pittsburgh in September. The leaders are expected to discuss when to start scaling back stimulus packages that countries have undertaken in past months to aid ailing economies.

On Tuesday, German manufacturing orders rose by a higher-than-expected 4.4% in May from the previous month, the country's Economics Ministry said, outstripping the 0.5% gain many analysts had expected. The rise, led by a jump in foreign orders, bodes well for a pickup in German industrial production.

Also on the G-8 agenda is a document -- drawn up by Italy and approved last month by the group's finance ministers -- that seeks to establish a new set of internationally accepted rules for transparent and ethical behavior in finance, business, trade and fiscal policy.

Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com