June 9, 2011. Vatican City. This upcoming June 16-17, an Executive Summit on Ethics for the Business World will be held at the Vatican for a select group of leading executives, entrepreneurs, and finance professionals. The purpose of the two-day meeting, which is being promoted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in collaboration with the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum and the Fidelis International Institute, is to reflect on Pope Benedict XVI’s vision of ethics in business and finance.

In fact, the guiding thread and inspiration for the event is the following line from Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate:  "Charity in the truth is the principal propelling force behind the true development of every person and all humanity.”

The first of its kind, the summit will focus on financial ethics in light of the dignity of the human pereson and the common good, as well as the concept of development at the service of the human person and his needs. What is most remarkable about the conference is that it is gathering business and finance leaders to share a strategic vision and best practices for promoting ethics in the business world. One of the concepts that will be discussed at the summit is that ethics and business are not in opposition, but are rather connatural, and that fraternity, responsibility, conscience, and truth have a role to play in the world of finance.

Several of the summit attendees will include: Andy Zelleke (Harvard professor of economics), Lorenzo Bini Smaghi from BCE, Lo Kai Ming, (CEO from Hong Kong), Ines Kolmsee (CEO of the iron and steel society SKW) and Ken Resnick (Vice President and General Counsel of General Electric Oil and Gas).

To find out more about the conference, visit: http://www.fidelisinstitute.org/article.php?se=14&ca=&id=27