For Christians, these realities represent not just troubling statistics, but the struggles of brothers and sisters, members of our one human family. The values of our faith call us to shape economic policies that protect human dignity, promote strong families, and create vibrant communities. In our religious tradition the fundamental moral test of any society is how the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable are faring. We are making progress, but challenges remain. One vital challenge is the increasing globalization of finance, trade, and work in our world.
Rapid globalization is one of the reasons for both economic growth and economic dislocation.
Retraining of dislocated workers to allow them to engage in the developing technologies should be a top priority. At the same time, workers, particularly those in the growing service industry, must be assured of their right to choose whether to organize and join unions or other associations to promote and defend their dignity. The Church has long stood and continues to stand with workers and their unions in the struggle for justice, decent wages and a meaningful voice in economic life. The results of globalization must be managed wisely and assessed for their impact on human life and human work. The Church looks to raise the moral and human dimensions of these issues how they touch immigrants fleeing poverty, workers seeking their rights, regions like Africa and parts of Latin America that could be left behind, trade embargoes which shape our relations with other peoples and nations, and the oppressive debt that impedes the progress of many developing nations.