Vatican diplomat says globalization led to greater poverty, disparity

Published: 2004-06-22

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Globalization has resulted in greater poverty and economic inequality for many people worldwide, a Vatican diplomat told a U.N. conference in Brazil. "We must recognize that present gains are far below what might have been and that the dynamics of globalization have led to the marginalization, if not the impoverishment, of many people in the world," Archbishop Silvano Tomasi told the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development. Archbishop Tomasi, the Vatican's top representative at U.N. offices in Geneva, led the Holy See's delegation at the June 13-18 U.N. conference in Sao Paolo. The Vatican released the archbishop's speech June 22. Archbishop Tomasi said an open-market economy in some parts of the world "has led to greater inequality," noting that the gap between the richest 10 percent of the population and the poorest 10 percent "has grown significantly, and there is no indication that this trend will be reversed."

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