The world's financial crisis is the result of greed, and an example of what happens when God, basic rights, and the common good are ignored. - Inspired by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State for the Vatican

Earlier this week, in a speech on religion in a globalized world, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a top Vatican official pegged the root cause of the current financial crisis to be the result of a concentration on short term profit as an end itself: an attitude that “ends up wiping out the profit."

“Politics and the market are not everything,” he cautioned. They are a means but not an end. Bertone also advocated the widespread adoption of Christian values: "Christianity promotes values that should not be labeled as 'Catholic' and therefore one-sided, acceptable only to those who share the same faith.” He emphasized that certain values, like the protection of life and marriage, and the education of children, cannot be up for debate and must be accepted by all.