Pope: Greed, selfishness caused crisis

VATICAN CITY, July 7 (UPI) -- The global financial crisis was caused by the greed of financiers and investors and points out the need for international controls, Pope Benedict XVI says.

The Catholic leader, in a new encyclical, or teaching document, released Tuesday at the Vatican, blamed the crisis on greed and selfishness and says it was worsened by a lack of governmental oversight and the absence of global regulatory mechanisms to cope with the increasingly interdependent nature of the world economy, the Catholic News Service reported.

"In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth," the pope wrote.

The encyclical, titled "Caritas in Veritate" (or "Charity in Truth"), maintains that charity, or love, is not just an option for Christians but is needed in economic dealings to build "a good society and for true integral development," the news service said.

Benedict said developed nations should not scale back aid to poor countries because of the economic crisis.