Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, delivered a significant speech emphasizing that solidarity is the key to changing structures responsible for poverty and exclusion.   

He expressed a hopeful vision: "I hope that international creditors will eliminate or at least reduce the foreign debt of the poorest countries and invest in social, educational, and health programs."  

The Vatican Secretary of State presided over a significant Award Ceremony titled "Economy and Society" organized by the Vatican Centesimus Annus Foundation. This year, Carolina Montero Orphanopoulos won the sixth edition of the prize with her essay "Vulnerability: Towards a more humane ethics."   

Cardinal Parolin touched on the notion of vulnerability in his address, saying, "The awareness of our vulnerability opens us to the experience of otherness, which disposes us to the gift of fraternity and the encounter with God. In becoming close to our brothers, we will rediscover ourselves, we will rediscover our most authentic humanity."   

Cardinal Parolin clarified that solidarity and more outstanding human fraternity are the antidotes to the current economic and political challenges.  

The Cardinal also used the opportunity to address the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Holy Land. He also found clear words for recent plans of sending European troops into Ukraine, calling it an apocalyptic scenario.   

Adapted by Jacob Stein