Pope Leo XIV meets with employees and representatives of various Italian banks, and highlights the importance of keeping a human-centered approach, especially in an era of technological advancement and algorithmic systems.
By Isabella H. de Carvalho
Pope Leo XIV highlighted the importance of always placing people at the center of banking and financial systems and urged those who work in these fields to make charity the guiding principle of their strategic choices, on Saturday, May 16.
“The spirit of your foundations reminds everyone, in particular, that what enters a bank in the first instance is not capital, but people, and that behind the numbers there are women and men, families who are in need of help” he said, in an address to employees and representatives of various Italian banks, whom he met at the Vatican.
“In a context in which the high level of computerization of financial tools imposes increasingly elaborate and artificial forms of mediation in interpersonal relationships, you — heirs to a great tradition of human attentiveness — are called to ensure that those who access your services do not feel abandoned to the coldness of algorithmic systems,” he continued.
He noted that behind these systems there need to be, “today as in the past,” people “ready to listen and eager to do good.”
Two possible routes
Pope Leo XIV reflected on the origins and development of the various banks and credit unions represented, underlining how they all had the common objective of supporting entrepreneurship and public and private finance in different moments of Italian history.
“Their beginnings, marked by courage and creativity, bear witness to the complementarity between savings and investment, private and public sectors, in the pursuit of the common good and of solid economic growth,” he said.
He explained that the financial institutions present have fostered, in different ways, a fair sharing and redistribution of wealth among individuals, businesses, and institutions, making its benefits more accessible to all.
The Pope emphasized that this is “a social function that fits well within the mission entrusted by God to humanity to be stewards of creation.”
Over the centuries, the Pope continued, the banking system has found itself at the center of economic and social development processes, becoming an increasingly complex reality that can influence people’s lives.
Due to this, he pointed out how this system has led to two possibilities: “On the one hand, to promote fair sharing for the general well-being; on the other, negatively, to foster selfish accumulation, a source of inequality and poverty.”
The human person at the center
“Within this broader framework, your history bears witness to the fact that those involved in the financial market can not only do good by acting uprightly,” the Pope emphasized, “but also by educating and guiding the people and environments in which they operate toward a prudent and morally appropriate use of resources—one that combines sensitivity, intelligence, honesty, and charity.”
Pope Leo added that “this way of acting” also showed over time how it ensures “the healthy and lasting growth of institutions, social models, and relationships.”
Insisting that banks can influence the structural and cultural evolution of a society, the Pope warned against retreating “into purely material values, confusing ends and means in life,” noting that “even in the financial sphere the human person must always remain at the center.”
In this regard, he commended the banking institutes present for their various humanitarian and cultural initiatives and encouraged them to continue on this path promoting mutual support and solidarity.
“This is the seed from which you were born and the solid and deep root—though often hidden—thanks to which the tree of your institutions continues to grow and flourish,” he said.
He concluded by calling those present to remain true to their roots by never forgetting charity and making it “the guiding principle of their strategic choices.”
