This is a powerfully expressed statement by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on the current financial maladies facing the world.  All of the recommendations warrant sustained thought, and most are well beyond my capacity to assess.

One thing that I did not remember is the call of Pope John XXIII in Pacem in Terris for a “true world political authority” to emerge to serve the common good of humanity.  This vision is taken up by the Council, which talks about the need for “a supranational Authority” to take charge of these matters in light of what is seen as a movement toward greater globalization.  The Council’s recommendations are cautious in this respect, but they are striking nevertheless.  It also seemed to me, especially after Mark’s post below, that thoughts about a global authority reflect a quite Catholic way to envision the issue of human authority, to be contrasted with the more Protestant view of state sovereignty described and championed by Vattel and others.  These old fights never really die.  — MOD