In his encyclical ‘Fratelli Tutti’ Pope Francis highlights that ‘business activity is essentially “a noble vocation directed to producing wealth and improving our world” (123).

This means that despite the criticisms levelled at business there exists an ethical way of how this activity can be conducted.  However, this needs to be based on predetermined values, values which are not inherent only to Christianity, but are shared by the human race in its entirety.

Business people carry out an important role in society, providing goods and services to the communities in which they are present.  However, if their actions are not guided by the sense of ‘common good’ this would be done simply for cultivating their private interests, which in the end would lead to increasing social exclusion.

This virtual conference examined and discussed Ethics in Business through Pope Francis’ teaching.  The keynote speaker for the event were Joseph F. X. Zahra.  Speakers from industry included Dr Gordon Cordina, Chairman at Bank of Valletta, and Mario Galea, which formed part of the discussion panel.  The panel also featured Fr Joseph Hili.

The Conference booklet which includes the programme, the abstract, and the speaker profiles can be accessed here.

The interventions/presentations can be downloaded through the following links:

You can follow again the conference here.

*This initiative was supported by the Ministry for Gozo NGO Assistance Scheme, a funding programme for Voluntary Organisations on the Island of Gozo.