'Moral approach' on economy urged

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, said thousands, maybe millions of people in this country now felt so let down by financial institutions that they were "deeply anxious" about the future for themselves and their families.

What struck him about the economic crisis was the breakdown in trust, he said in a homily at Midnight Mass in Westminster Cathedral.

He said there had been some "spectacular" cases of people at the heart of the financial system acting in such a way that it would be hard for that trust to be regained.

He said: "Christianity neither condemns nor canonises the market economy - it may be an essential element in the conduct of human affairs. But we have to remember that it is a system governed by people, not some blind force like gravity.

"Those who operate the market have an obligation to act in ways that promote the common good, not just in ways that promote the interests of certain groups. The market economy will only work justly if it has an underlying moral purpose."

In his homily, delivered at what is widely expected to be his last Midnight Mass at Westminster Cathedral as leader of Catholics in England and Wales, the Cardinal spoke of the human cost of the economic crisis, saying that the poor would be hardest hit by the downturn.

He expressed his hope that the problems in Britain would not lead people to forget the plight of people in "far worse" situations in the rest of the world, particularly Africa.

The Cardinal singled out Zimbabwe, which he visited earlier this year, saying he said he had been "touched and shocked" by the poverty and desolation of the people there. "I think it is good to reflect on a phrase Pope John Paul II used in the last years of his life - he spoke of the need for Christians to develop what he called 'a globalisation of solidarity', with hearts that beat with love for the world's poorest, as well as for those in trouble closer to home," he said. "How terrible if globalisation evolves in an ethical vacuum."

He added that he hoped that the celebration of Christmas would allow people everywhere to build communities based on trust. "Trust begins in the family but it stretches out to people who live in villages, towns and cities all over our country," he said.