That those who have material, political or spiritual power may resist any lure of corruption.

Pope Francis – February 2018

“What is at the root of slavery, unemployment, and disregard for nature and goods held in common? Corruption, a process of death that feeds the culture of death.
Because the thirst for power and possessions knows no limits.
Corruption is not countered with silence.
We must speak about it, denounce its evils, and try to understand it so as to show our resolve to make mercy reign over meanness, beauty over nothingness.
Let us pray that those who have material, political or spiritual power may resist any lure of corruption.”

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PRESS RELEASE

Francis: “Corruption isn’t fought with silence”

In the February Pope Video, Francis speaks about the consequences of corruption and calls for the condemnation of this evil. The Pope Video is released each month by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

VATICAN CITY, February 1, 2018 — In the newest Pope Video, the Holy Father asks that corruption be faced down and condemned. This month, the video was made in conjunction with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, a first for the dicastery and a sign of the importance of this theme.

The video creatively condemns the evils of corruption and organized crime, contrasting them with the relationship between justice and beauty.

“Let us pray that those who have material, political or spiritual power may resist any lure of corruption,” Francis invites. “We must speak about it, denounce its evils, and try to understand it so as to show our resolve to make mercy reign over meanness, beauty over nothingness.”

Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, affirmed that “we shouldn’t speak about resolving the issue of corruption in theory. Instead we should confront corruption in every sector. It is the poor who pay for the parties of the corrupt.”

Jesuit Father Frédéric Fornos, international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, noted that it’s not surprising the Pope included this theme among the prayer intentions of this year. “This is something that concerns him deeply,” he said, “and which he has spoken about on many occasions. Corruption affects many nations of the world and it is an evil that destroys and kills.”

The Pope Video on corruption is in line with various initiatives from the Dicastery to draw attention to this scourge, beginning with an International Conference on Corruption held June 15, 2017; the publication of Cardinal Turkson’s book (with Vittorio V Alberti) Corrosione, for which Pope Francis wrote the prologue; and a conference on corruption in Naples scheduled for February 3, where the video will be shown.

Corruption, Injustice, Money, Businesses, Power, Reporting