Pope Benedict XVI urged banks on Wednesday to show solidarity towards families hit by the current financial crisis while helping promote production.
The pope has repeatedly commented on the financial crisis and he reiterated his concern to a group of bankers from the southern region of Calabria who attended the Wednesday general audience.
''Your presence here provides me with an opportunity to highlight - especially during these problematic times for so many families - that one of the primary objectives of banks and credit institutions is to show solidarity towards the weak and support for productive activities''.
Speaking during a televised reading of the Bible a few weeks ago he stressed that the cash crisis has shown where the pursuit of money can lead.
Taking his cue from a famous Bible parable on false prophets, the pope said: ''He who builds only on visible and tangible things like success, career and money, he builds the house of his life on sand''.
''We are now seeing, in the collapse of major banks, that money vanishes, it is nothing''.
