http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/document

 
Three days prior to the gathering of world leaders in London to address the global financial crisis, politicians, academics and representatives of civil society organizations from 61 countries have issued a joint statement calling for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. The proposal is in line with similar recommendations already passed by the European Parliament, the Pan-African Parliament, the Latin-American Parliament and the Senate of Argentina.
 

Paul Stubbs
4 Questions on the Crisis
 
1. How is it possible that the crisis has been defined as a financial or, at best, an economic crisis when it clearly has social dimensions to it?

The so-called financial crisis follows on from related fuel and food crises. Cumulatively, they have affected, and continue to affect, real people and, therefore, can be said to have social impacts. In addition, levels of trust in key social institutions are a crucial factor in terms of how the crisis unfolds in different places at different times. Perhaps even more importantly, however, the nature of the crisis blurs any simple division between the 'economic', 'political' and 'social' spheres. Resolution of the crisis may well need a redefinition of fundamental values, a kind of new social contract, at all levels including individual nation states.