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Skriven 2006-10-04 12:17:22 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
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                               VIS-Press releases

JUSTICE AND PEACE DOCUMENT: THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2006 (VIS) - Today, the Pontifical Council for Justice and
Peace published a note entitled "The Fight Against Corruption", which
synthesizes the main points of the conference held by this dicastery on this
theme this past month of June, with the participation of international
officials, diplomats and experts on this phenomenon.

According to a summary on the booklet, it emphasizes that "corruption crosses
all social sectors (...) and cannot be attributed only to those who work in the
economic sector or only to public officials" and is favored, among other
things, "by the disparity between the level at which corruption is fought,
often limited to the level of single states, while its range of action is (...)
international".

"According to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, corruption
distorts the role of the governing institutions, using them as grounds of
political exchange between private requests and governmental actions. This way,
political choices promote the limited objectives of those having the means to
influence them and create obstacles to the realization of common good for all
the citizens. Also, corruption is one of the causes contributing to
underdevelopment and poverty, depriving the peoples of the fundamental common
good that is legality".

To overcome corruption, according to the note, "a positive factor is the
passage from an authoritarian society to a democratic society, (...) from
centralized to participating society", and warns that this process of social
aperture may "demolish the solidity of moral convictions" and "facilitate the
exportation of corruption".

The note specifies that the Church "can have an evermore relevant role in the
prevention of corruption, efficiently contributing to the moral education and
formation of citizens, especially with the fundamental principles of her social
doctrine: the dignity of the human person, the common good, solidarity,
subsidiarity, a preferential option towards the poor, the universal destination
of goods".

As stated in the International Conference in June, the Note by this Dicastery
repeats that "the fight against corruption is a value, but also a need;
corruption is an evil, but also a cost; refusing corruption is a good, but also
an advantage; abandoning corrupt actions may generate development and
well-being; honest attitudes should be promoted, the dishonest ones punished".

Therefore on the international level, "since organized crime knows no
boundaries, collaboration between governments must be increased, even with
agreements on the procedures for confiscating and recuperating what has been
illegally gained".
CON-IP/DOCUMENT CORRUPTION/... VIS 061004 (410)

SUMMARY

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