Il denaro deve servire, non governare
Money Is to Serve Rather Than Rule

Summary/Abstract: “No to a fi nancial system which rules rather than serves” is one of the strongest passages of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, as well as the statement that—as I believe—may be a source of numerous insights. In this article, I intend to reflect on this statement and on the challenging character of Christian ethics, in which the importance of money is relativized. The theme of the relationship between man and money determines the profile of a mature Catholic as a citizen. It seems that Pope Francis, stating that money has to serve rather than rule, indicates the fundamental anthropological question of Christianity and sheds light on the most vital contribution Catholics make to the civic life. The problem undertaken in the article is also fundamentally and historically important for the understanding of the origin of democratic and liberal institutions. An historical example of the infl uence Christianity exerted on this area is the fact that it helped to relativize the absolutist pretensions in the field of politics.

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