This morning the Holy Father received in audience the representatives of the “Guido Carli” Foundation and the jury of the prize of the same name, on the tenth anniversary of its creation. Guido Carlo was an Italian economist and politician who governed the Bank of Italy for fifteen years and who was characterized, as the Holy Father remarked, “by a strong sense of duty and a constant commitment to the good of the community”. Carli took his first steps in the Italian institutions thanks to a priest friend of the family of Pope Paul VI, the Montini, who were also longstanding friends of the statesman’s family.

The Holy Father gave a brief speech thanking them for the Foundation’s commitment in the area of solidarity, “a human value”, he said, “that from the Christian perspective fulfils the duty of evangelical charity”. He urged them to continue in their activity, “especially in favour of the weakest sectors of society”.

“We are all aware”, he added, “of the fact that, among the contradictions of today's society, there is also this: on the one hand, we see the prevalence of purely economic or financial criteria and activities aimed at consumption, and on the other hand , the growing inability to reconcile the just distribution of income with the improvement of development prospects. It is important to reiterate that the economy provides a service to the common good if it remains linked to ethics, which is a universal measure of authentic human good”.