Morals vs Money ... the 'battle' has begun ...

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church have stepped further into the frame and are preparing for 'battle' ...

Following the Occupy Movement setting up their protest camp outside St Paul's, more senior figures, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, have stepped up their attack on the City, speaking of a financial sector which sets a moral tone for a society which had become "scandalously unfair", and drawing attention to the human cost of financial injustice, as well as the need to reset the debate about financial institutions firmly within the context of a bigger story about what human life is for.

They include:

• Dr John Sentamu, The Archbishop of York, has launched an attack on executive pay, saying that FTSE-100 company chief executives were doing a disservice to society with their remuneration, saying "It is hard to imagine a more powerful way of telling someone that they are of little value than to pay them one-third of 1% of your salary ... and among the ill effects of very large income differences between rich and poor are that they weaken community life and make societies less cohesive."

• Ken Costa, a former bank chairman (of investment bank Lazard International) and the Church’s newly appointed leader of an initiative/commission to build links with the City and build bridges between the anti-capitalist protesters and the City (appointed by Dr Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, following his 'u-turn'). Mr Costa has already said: "It will look at how the market has managed to slip its moral moorings, and explore pragmatic ways of uniting the financial and the ethical." 

• Dr Giles Fraser, the cleric who quit as canon chancellor of St Paul’s, said there was “financial injustice” that had to be addressed. He resigned from the Chapter of St Paul's as clerics fell out over how to deal with the Occupy London protesters camped outside, and has added that the Church should highlight the human cost of financial injustice, but warned its leaders against "proposing specific answer to complex economic problems."  

"Rather, it's the calling of the Church to draw attention to the human cost of financial injustice, and to reset the debate about our financial institutions firmly within the context of a bigger story about what human life is for," he said.

The cathedral executed a u-turn after the intervention of Dr Williams, who sided with the anti-capitalist protesters camped outside the cathedral, and as a result the Corporation of London has now had to suspend its legal action.

Dr Williams, has also called for specific action, calling for the introduction of a financial transaction tax (sometimes referred to as a 'Robin Hood' tax), and started to intervene after becoming increasingly dismayed at the stance taken by Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, who backed the legal action to have them removed. 

There is still quiet concern at the Cathedral that the stance now being taken by senior clerics and the Church will put off City donors ... who significantly fund St Paul's Cathedral ... which goes a long way to explaining the initial desire of some (such as the Bishop of London initially) to start legal action to remove the protestors ... 

The 'battle' has indeed begun ... Morals vs Money ... and it's not going to be easy ... as even some in the church have clearly initially struggled with this!

From a historical perspective, by not allowing protestors to protest in 'The City' or outside the Stock Exchange, and with the Occupy Movement subsequently choosing to camp out at St Paul's Cathedral instead (which is next to the Stock Exchange), little could they have known that this would spark into action one of largest movements in the world, and see the Church step into the frame to back their cause ... a ground-swell within the Church is clearly developing and gaining a renewed sense of vigor ...

PS Ed Miliband has finally stepped forward again today by writing an article ...

Global Capitalism vs Christianity - has a 'battle' begun?

By demanding that the worst excesses of global capitalism be reined in, the Holy See echoed the message of protesters encamped outside St Paul's Cathedral in London, the indignados of Spain and the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US.

In a forthright statement, the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace called for an end to rampant speculation, the redistribution of wealth, greater ethics and the establishment of a "central world bank" to which national banks would have to cede power.

Such an authority would have "universal jurisdiction" over governments' economic strategies. Existing financial situations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund were outdated and no longer able to deal with the scale of the global financial crisis, which had exposed "selfishness, greed and the hoarding of goods on a grand scale".

The global financial system was riddled with injustice and failure to address that would lead to "growing hostility and even violence", which would undermine democracy. Wealthy countries should not be allowed to wield "excessive power" over poorer nations, the Vatican said. Cardinal Peter Turkson, the head of the pontifical council, said banks needed to question whether they were "serving the interests of humanity" in the way they operated. 

The proposal calls for a new tax on international financial transactions, but the battle for the future of humanity (based upon robust values/ethics) has only just begun and is becoming more vocal from Christians ... and is joining forces with others (e.g. the Occupy Movement).

However the 'battle' is not going to be easy or without 'casualties', as some church leaders are clearly not happy about this ... for instance the Revd Canon Giles Fraser resigned yesterday after having sided with anti-capitalist protestors camped outside St Paul's cathedral. The cathedral was losing £20k a day in lost takings (e.g. it charges £20 just for entry) and was coming under increasing pressure from local authorities ... clearly some in their senior ranks felt this financial loss (and unwanted attention) was just too much to bear ... hypocrisy indeed!

In a sign of the deeper splits within the clergy, a report that Canon Fraser had been due to publish, which was damning of the lack of ethics amongst bankers, had been shelved by the cathedral amid concerns that it would escalate the row by appearing to add weight to the protesters' cause.