Mission, Prophetic Economics, Human Development: Latin American Challenges Moving Forward in the 21st Century

It is necessary to emphasize the unwavering responsibility of Christians to reflect and act in the face of the great challenges of our time. This is especially true in the face of the major problems generally characterized as crises of social and human development. It is urgent to guide the Church in its actions beyond its internal circle, engaging in constant dialogue with civil society, academia, politics, the media, and other relevant institutional spheres. This work is a reflection focused primarily on the field of economics, an area that requires constant review from an ethical perspective to ensure its clear direction toward the most appropriate objectives for human development. As Christians, we understand that every facet of life in society must be promoted in light of the values of the Kingdom of God; thus, the economy cannot be exempt from the necessary evaluative judgment by those same criteria. In this sense, the epithet "prophetic” in the title, also pointing towards such human flourishing of our societies envisioned in that shalom of those pondering and visionary writings. Read more