Cardinal Czerny: 'We need a new humanistic economy'

By Lisa Zengarini

Cardinal Michael Czerny, the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, travelled to Germany on Friday to receive the 2024 Klaus Hemmerle Award, recognizing his tireless commitment to human dignity and human rights. 

The award is conferred every two years by the Focolare Movement in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to individuals who have made outstanding contributions as bridge builders and who, in a special way, promote dialogue between churches, religions, and different worldviews.

It was established in 2004 to honour the memory of the late theologian and Bishop of Aachen Klaus Hemmerle (1929-1994), who dedicated his life to promoting dialogue and inspired the founder of the movement Chiara Lubich.

Before the award ceremony at Aachen Cathedral, on Friday morning, Cardinal Czerny presented the book "Wir sind alle Geschwister - das Zeichen der Zeit: Die Soziallehre von Papst Franziskus"("We Are All Siblings  - A Sign of the Times: The Social Teaching of Pope Francis") at an academic event on the social teaching of the Church

Pope St. Paul VI's landmark ‘Popolorum Progressio’ 

In the presentation, held at the Kommende Dortmund Institute, the Cardinal Prefect delved into the Catholic vision of “integral human development” as posited by Pope St. Paul VI in his landmark Social Encyclical Popolorum Progressio on the development of peoples, and further developed by Pope Francis’ social teaching.

He noted that by introducing the notion of “integral human development," Paul VI “challenged the dominant development paradigm focused exclusively on economic growth," as opposed to authentic development which must foster “the development of each man and of the whole man.”

According to this view, Cardinal Czerny explained,  “everyone has a contribution to make to society as a whole, and no one is excluded from contributing something for the benefit of all.”

Most importantly, he added, Populorum Progressio recognized that “real development cannot be achieved in isolation, but in the context of a just and balanced society that favours solidarity, peace, and respect for human dignity.”

Pope Francis' social teaching rooted in integral human development 

Pope Francis' social teaching, the Prefect continued, is deeply rooted in this notion of integral human development and offers us a perspective and guidance on many of the issues facing the world today.

In Evangelii gaudium (2013), the Pope criticizes globalization and the dominant technocratic and profit-centred paradigm, which measures and manages reality exclusively from an economic perspective and inevitably leads to what he has termed a “throwaway culture," where the excluded are not just exploited but become "waste.”

In Laudato si' (2015), he objects to the "technocratic paradigm" by stating that "the market by itself cannot guarantee the integral development of the human being and social inclusion."

Moreover, in Fratelli tutti (2020), he says that the “throwaway culture” must be replaced by a “culture of encounter,” guided and animated by deep feelings of friendship and fraternity, in order to build a more just society.

Need to change direction

In the face of today's global challenges, which have been compounded by the current extractive economic model, said Cardinal Czerny, Pope Francis is inviting us to reflect on the urgent need to “change direction” and adopt “a new humanistic economic mentality” shifting our focus “from profit to prosperity, from economic growth to sustainability, and from materiality to human dignity.”

“We all play a critical role in our professional and social roles in shaping a new logic that can protect our fragile environment and strengthen our fragmented communities,” the Cardinal Prefect concluded. “May the Church never tire of making this contribution, knowing that integral development is the path to good that the human family is called to take.”