Giving Back Fund Releases 2009's Top Celebrity Givers

Look To The Stars is proud to announce that our partners at the Giving Back Fund have announced their third annual Giving Back 30, a list of celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity according to public records.

Readers may have been surprised to learn that Paul Newman replaced Oprah Winfrey as the most generous celebrity of 2008. Oprah had occupied the number one spot by a wide margin for the first two years of the list.

Before his death, Newman made a donation of nearly $21 million to his self-named Newman’s Own Foundation. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were second with a $13.5 million donation to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which distributed $6.4 million to charity, including a $2 million grant to The Global Health Committee for an Ethiopian clinic project, a $1 million grant to the Make it Right Foundation founded by Pitt, and $500,000 to the Armed Services YMCA USA.

“Our hope is that celebrities will begin to become more comfortable sharing information about their charitable giving - perhaps not disclosing everything they give, but sharing enough to enable them to serve as role-models to their peers and fans,” said Marc Pollick, President and Founder of The Giving Back Fund.

Also on the list: Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Mel Gibson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurie and Larry David and Drew Barrymore. Several authors made the list this year, along with representatives from the NBA, NFL and NASCAR. To see the complete list visit The Giving Back Fund’s web site at www.givingback.org.

HOW IT WAS COMPILED

To compile the most accurate rankings, The Giving Back Fund culled media reports of charitable giving by sports and entertainment professionals; reviewed PF-990 tax-forms; contacted more than 250 publicists, attorneys, agents, agencies, and managers for information about their clients; polled more than 150 charities known for their celebrity associations; and contacted all of the major sports leagues.

The Giving Back Fund did not include grants made by foundations in the list so as to avoid counting the same funds twice - once when the donor gave money to a foundation and again when the donor decided on a beneficiary for that money. The Giving Back Fund did not calculate giving as a percentage of the celebrities’ income because there are no public records documenting income. Re-directed income from sponsorship and merchandising deals to charity made by a celebrity was also not reported as it is not available to the public.


Donations to private foundations are disclosed in public documents. However, donations to public charities are not publicly disclosed and therefore may not be reported in the Giving Back 30.

Charity Times Awards 2009

The Charity Times Awards reached a landmark tenth year in 2009, and this year's event was the biggest ever.

This year's shortlist and winners are below.

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The 2009 Shortlist and Winners

Charity of the Year:

Chance UK
Deaf Parenting UK
Five Talents
International HIV/Aids Alliance
Leeds survivor Led Crisis Service
Solaraid
Storybook Dads
Teach First
The Relationship Centre

Winner: Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service

The winner showed clear evidence of how a smaller charity can make a real difference and have substantial benefits on the ground.

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Best New Charity:

FibroAction
Live Life Then Give Life
Lively Minds
Ostomy Lifestyle

Winner: Live Life Then Give Life
An inspirational new charity, whose vision, commitment, passion and professionalism shines through.

Highly commended: Ostomy Lifestyle

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Charity Principal of the Year:

Catriona McPhee-Smith, CEO, Inspire
Ed Bracher, CEO, Riding for the Disabled Association
Emma Jayne Cross, CEO, Beatbullying
Dilowar Hussain Khan, executive director, East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre
Jane Davis, Director, The Reader Organisation
Jeanette Allen, CEO, MedicAlert Foundation
Howard Sinclair, CEO, Broadway Homelessness & Support
Steve Kirk, CEO, St Lukes Hospice

Winner: Emma Jayne Cross, CEO, Beatbullying

An outstanding, committed individual, her passion for her work is inspiration to all in the sector.

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Best Charity to Work for

Inspire
P3
Save the Children UK
Tyneside Cyrenian

Winner: Save the Children UK

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Outstanding Individual Achievement:

Alison McCausland, Co-founder, The Relationship Centre
Karen Pollock, CEO, Holocaust Educational Trust
Marc Koska, Founder, The Safepoint Trust
Michele Elliott, Founder, Kidscape
Sabina Iqbal, chair and founder, Deaf Parenting
Sadruzzaman Khan, Chair, Asian Social& Humanitarian Association
Sharon Beckett, CEO, Gwent Association for the Blind

Winner: Alison Mcausland, Co-founder, The Relationship Centre

She has made a real impact in a challenging area and without having the resources of a larger charity.

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Human Resources Team of the Year:

Breakthrough Breast Cancer
Broadway Homeless and Support
Diabetes UK
Edinburgh Cyrenians

Winner: Breakthrough Breast Cancer

A clear focused HR strategy, which has reaped obvious benefits for the charity as whole.

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Fundraising Team of the Year:

Breast Cancer Care
British Heart Foundation
Community Foundation for Merseyside
Havens Hospices
The Childrens Trust

Winner: The Childrens Trust

A clear fundraising focus and vision for how to achieve their much needed project finance.

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Campaigning Team of the Year:

Action For Children
Bliss
British Heart Foundation
Macmillan Cancer Support
ITV Fixers
The National Autistic Society
Women's Aid

Winner: The National Autistic Society

To campaign for, and be successful in achieving an Autism Bill, is a major achievement of the highest order. The campaign cannot be commended enough.

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Trustee Board of the Year:

Broadway Homelessness & Support
East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Tyneside Rape Crisis Centre

Winner: Broadway Homelessness & Support

Solid, robust trustee professionalism at its very best.

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Best Use of Technology:

Anchor House
Comic Relief
Humber Learning Consortium
National Day Nurseries and Virtual College
The Brendoncare Foundation
South Bucks Hospice

Winner: Anchor House

Anchor House has given us a fantastic example of how the power of technology can be harnessed to make people’s lives better. IT is being used to make Anchor House more secure, to give residents more independence and to provide them with better access to information. Very well done.

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Best Use of the Web:

CyberMentors (Beatbullying)
Disabled Living Foundation
Teacher Support Network
Tearfund
Rafi.KI
United Response
WWF

Winner: Teacher Support

Teacher addresses a critical need. The site has a great architecture with interactive content served upfront. You can sense the passion behind this site, in spite of a modest budget. The judges admired the written entry submission which was passionate and clear and the grreat use of social networking tools.

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Corporate National Partnership of the Year:

Breast Cancer Care/QVC UK
Caudwell Children/Barclays Wealth
Childrens Hospice UK/Barclays Commercial
Live Music Now/ Bank of America
Meningitis Trust/Focus DIY
National Day Nurseries Association/Virtual College
Read International/Big Yellow Storage

Winner: Meningitis Trust/Focus DIY

A strong spirit of partnership is evident, built up over many years and without any big promotional headlines.

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Corporate Community Local Involvement:

Action For Children/Barclays
Broadway Homelessness and Support/United House
Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre/The Walt Disney Company
Help the Aged/ Barclays
Rangers Charity Foundation

Winner: Action For Children/Barclays

A good community involvement in the most practical but useful of ways in the recession

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Corporate Social Responsibility Project of the Year:

Carluccios and Action Against Hunger UK
Panasonic Europe
SolarAid
The British Forces Foundation and British Airways

Winner: SolarAid

A clear but innovative approach that showed real obvious benefits

Highly commended: Carluccios and Action Against Hunger UK

An excellent example of CSR at work

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Banking Services:

Charity Bank
The Co-operative Bank
Unity Trust Bank

Winner: Unity Trust Bank

A clear commitment to the ethics of the charity sector is clear in its business model

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Investment Management:

Barings
Collins Stewart
JP Morgan
Rathbones

Winner: Rathbones

Solid investment expertise mixed with a real commitment to the charity sector

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ICT Services:

IRIS NFP Solutions
IP Solutions

Winner: IRIS NFP Solutions

Although a large, established company offering a range of solutions for different markets the judges were impressed by the detail of the submission and were particularly impressed that they have made the systems really accessible to the not-for-profit sector.

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Accountancy Services:

Haysmacintyre

HW Fisher & Company

Winner: Haysmacintyre

A good account of how to serve the sector and improve its service according to the needs

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Insurance Services:

Access Underwriting

Zurich

Winner: Zurich

A clear commitment to the charity sector through its services and focus on corporate responsibility.

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The Charity Times Awards continue to be the pre-eminent celebration of best practice in the UK charity and not-for-profit sector.

The 2009 Awards included extra categories to reflect the changing nature of the sector.

The awards recognise that it is the leaders within charities who are responsible for coordinating much of the charitable activity throughout the UK and as the engines of the charity sector, it is at this level that the Awards are targeted.

As such, the event itself is built around the individuals and teams for whom the Awards are intended: trustees, chief executives, directors and other upper-level management from not-for-profits across the UK.

Reflecting this belief, the Awards provides the charity sector with a dedicated event to reward the work carried out in difficult and competitive conditions, and establishes a unique annual congress of the pre-eminent figures in the sector at the premier charity event of the year.

Golf day puts boost in charity’s finances

I had a splendid lunch on Friday in the elegant setting of the Berkshire Golf Club, courtesy of The Alexandra Rose Charities, who were holding a charity auction.

The event was a roaring success, with all the 18 teams enjoying their round of golf on Berkshire’s impressive 18-hole course, but the recession was evident in the difficulty the charming auctioneer Fabian Hine had in raising the amount on some of the auctions.

That said, the total raised for the day was over £10,500. Not bad for the recession. Alexandra Rose Charities national director Margaret Stock was naturally happy with the day, and dug into her first glass of wine late in the afternoon as celebration.

The charity helps charities and community organisations, which aim to advance and improve the quality of life for those with physical, sensory, mental health and learning disability, helping them to raise funds.

The current captain of the Berkshire, Iain Mathewson – who had many complementary words to say about Acevo’s CEO Stephen Bubb, from his days as a civil servant – followed in the clubs’ traditional support of the charity and brought his own team.

Other teams were made up from City Investment Bankers, Beadles of Livery Halls and a team with a charity minded London cab driver who supports the Wilderness Foundation.

I helped out the journalism way, by putting my £10 into the charity’s envelope, and then went on to drink all the wine.

Charity in Truth, a Synthesis

(07 Jul 09 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI's long awaited third encyclical was presented today during a press conference in the Holy See Press Office. Below we publish a synthesis of the themes at the heart of the Papal document:
“Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness” is “the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity”: thus begins Caritas in Veritate, the Encyclical addressed to the Catholic world and “to all people of good will”. In the Introduction, the Pope reminds us that “charity is at the heart of the Church’s social doctrine”. On the other hand, given “the risk of being misinterpreted, detached from ethical living”, it is linked with truth. And cautions us: “A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance” (§ 1-4).
Truth is necessary for development. Without it, says the Pope, “the social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation” (§ 5). Benedict XVI dwells upon two “criteria that govern moral action” that come from the “charity in truth” principle: Justice and the common good. Every Christian is called to love through an “institutional path” which has an incidence on the life of the pólis, of life in society (§ 6-7). The Church, he insists, “does not have technical solutions to offer”; however, she has “a mission of truth to accomplish” for “a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation” (§ 8-9).
The first chapter of the document is about Paul VI’s Message of Populorum Progressio. “Without the perspective of eternal life – the Pope warns us – human progress in this world is denied breathing-space”. Without God, development becomes negative, “dehumanized” (§ 10-12).
Paul VI, one can read, stressed on “the indispensable importance of the Gospel for building a society according to freedom and justice” (§ 13) In Humanae Vitae, Paul VI “shows the strong ties between life ethics and social ethics” (§ 14-15). He explains the concept of vocation in Populorum Progressio. “Development is vocation” because “it derives from a transcendent call”. He goes on to underline that it is thus “integral”, that is, it has to “promote the good of every man and of the whole man”. “Faith – he adds – does not rely on privilege or positions of power”, “but only on Christ” (§ 16-18). Paul VI shows that “the causes of underdevelopment are not primarily of the material order”. They are above all in the will, thought and even more “in the lack of brotherhood among individuals and peoples”. “As society becomes ever more globalized, it makes us neighbours but does not make us brothers”. We must therefore mobilise ourselves, so that economics evolves “towards fully human outcomes” (§ 19-20).

In the second chapter, the Pope deals with Human development in our time. Profit as the exclusive goal “without the common good as its ultimate end, risks destroying wealth and creating poverty”. He goes on to mention some distortions of development: financial dealing that is “largely speculative”, migration of peoples “often provoked” and then insufficiently attended to, and “the unregulated exploitation of the earth’s resources”. Before such interconnected problems, the Pope calls for “a new humanistic synthesis”. The crisis “obliges us to re-plan our journey” (§ 21).
Development today, says the Pope, “has many overlapping layers”. “The world’s wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities are on the increase”, with new forms of poverty emerging. Corruption, he fears, is present in countries rich and poor; too often, multinational enterprises do not respect the rights of the workers. Besides, “international aids has often been diverted from its proper ends, through irresponsible actions” both of donors and of beneficiaries. At the same time, says the Pope, “there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge on the part of rich countries, through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care” (§ 22).
Since the end of the “blocs”, John Paul II had been asking for a global “re-examination of development”, but this “has been achieved only in part”. There is today “a re-evaluation” of the roles of the “State’s public authorities”, and one can foresee an increase in the “political participation in civil society, nationally and internationally”. The Pope then turns his attention to the search, by rich countries, for areas in which to outsource production at low cost. “These processes have led to a downsizing of social security systems”, with “grave danger for the rights of workers”. To this, one has to add that “the cuts in social spending, often made under pressure from international financial institutions, can leave citizens powerless in the face of old and new risks”. In any case, one can observe that “governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom of labour unions”. Those who rule are reminded that “the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity” (§ 23-25).
On a cultural level, the possibility of interaction opens new perspectives of dialogue, but with a double danger. First, there can be a cultural eclecticism in which all cultures are viewed as “substantially equivalent”. The opposite danger is that of “cultural levelling”, “the indiscriminate acceptance of types of conduct and life-styles” (§ 26). The Pope then turns his attention to the scandal that hunger represents. What is missing is a “network of economic institutions” capable of confronting this emergency. One must hope for “new possibilities” in the techniques of agriculture and land reform in developing countries (§ 27).
Benedict XVI then underlines that the respect for life “cannot in any way be detached” from the development of peoples. Various parts of the world still experience practices of demographic control which “go as far as to impose abortion”. In economically developed countries, there is “an anti-birth mentality, frequent attempts (being) made to export this mentality to other States as if it were a form of cultural progress”. In addition, there is “reason to suspect that development aid is sometimes linked” to “specific healthcare policies which de facto involve the imposition” of birth control. The “laws permitting euthanasia” are another matter for concern. “When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man’s true good” (§ 28).
There is another aspect connected to development: the right to religious freedom. Violence “puts the brakes on authentic development”, and this “applies especially to terrorism motivated by fundamentalism”. At the same time, promotion of atheism in many countries “obstructs the requirements for the development of peoples, depriving them of spiritual and human resources” (§ 29). For development needs the interaction of the various levels of knowledge, put in harmony through charity (§ 30-31). One must hope that the economic choices continue “to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment” for everyone. Benedict XVI warns us against “short-term – sometimes very short-term – economy, which leads to “lowering the level of protection accorded to the rights of workers” in order to “increase the country’s international competitiveness”. For this, he exhorts us to correct some dysfunctions of the development models as is required today by the “earth’s state of ecological health”. He concludes with globalization: “Without the guidance of charity in truth, this global force could cause unprecedented damage and create new divisions”. Therefore, we have to deal with “a new and creative challenge” (§ 32-33).

Fraternity, economic Development and civil society is the theme of the 3^rd chapter of the Encyclical, opening with a praise of the experience of giving, often unrecognised “because of a purely consumerist and utilitarian view of life”. The conviction that economics are free from the “influences of a moral character” “has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way”. Development, “if it is to be authentically human”, must “make room for the principle of gratuitousness” (§ 34). This is particularly relevant regarding the market.
“Without internal forms of solidarity and mutual trust, the market cannot completely fulfil its proper economic function”. The market “cannot rely only on itself”, it “must draw its moral energies from other subjects” and must not consider the poor as a “burden, but a resource”. The market must not become “the place where the strong subdue the weak”. Commercial logic needs to be “directed towards the pursuit of the common good, for which the political community in particular must also take responsibility”. The market is not negative by nature. Therefore, what is to be challenged is man, his “moral conscience and responsibility”. The present crisis shows that the “traditional principles of social ethics like transparency, honesty and responsibility cannot be ignored or attenuated”. At the same time, the Pope reminds us that economics do not eliminate the role of the State, and requires “just laws”. Calling to mind Centesimus Annus, he points to the “necessity of a system with three subjects: the market, the State and civil society”, and calls for ways to “civilizing the economy”. We need “economic forms based on solidarity”. The market and politics need “individuals who are open to reciprocal gift” (§ 35-39).

In the 4^th chapter, the Encyclical deals with the Development of people, rights and duties, the environment. One can notice the “claims to a ‘right to excess’” in the affluent societies, while food and water are lacking in certain underdeveloped regions. “Individual rights when detached from a framework of duties can run wild”. Rights and duties are in connexion to an ethical context. If, on the other hand, their basis is only “to be found in the deliberations of an assembly of citizens”, they are liable to be “changed at any time”. Governments and international bodies must not forget “the objectivity and ‘inviolability’ of rights” (§ 43). On this matter, one can dwell upon the “problems associated with population growth”. It is a “mistake” to “consider population increase as the primary cause of underdevelopment”. The Pope reaffirms that sexuality cannot be “reduced merely to pleasure or entertainment”. One cannot regulate sexuality through “strategies of mandatory birth control”. He then goes on to underline that “morally responsible openness to life represents a rich social and economic resource”. “States are called to enact policies promoting the centrality and the integrity of the family” (§ 44).
“The economy, he adds, needs ethics in order to function correctly – not any ethics whatsoever, but an ethics which is people-centred”. The same centrality of the human person must be the guiding principle “in development programmes” of international cooperation, in which the beneficiaries should always be involved. “International organizations might question the actual effectiveness of their bureaucratic machinery”, “often excessively costly”. The Pope notices that too often “the poor serve to perpetuate expensive bureaucracies”. Hence his call for a “complete transparency” concerning funds received (§ 45-47).
The last paragraphs of the chapter are devoted to the environment. For the believer, nature is a gift of God, to be used in a responsible way. In this context, our attention is brought to consider the energy problem. The fact that some States and power groups “hoard non-renewable energy resources” constitutes “a grave obstacle to development in poor countries”. Therefore, the international community should “find institutional means of regulating the exploitation of non-renewable resources”. “The technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption”, while at the same time “encourage research into alternative forms of energy”.
Basically, “what is needed is an effective shift in mentality which can lead to the adoption of new life-styles”. A style which, up to now in most parts of the world, “is prone to hedonism and consumerism”. The decisive issue, therefore, is “the overall moral tenor of society”. The Pope goes on to caution: “If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death”, “the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology”, including that of environmental ecology (§ 48-52).
The cooperation of the human family is at the heart of the 5^th chapter, in which Benedict XVI shows that “the development of peoples depend above all on a recognition that the human race is a single family”. On the other hand, one can read that the Christian religion can contribute to development “only if God has a place in the public realm”. By “denying the right to profess one’s religion in public”, politics “takes on a domineering and aggressive character”. The Pope warns: “Secularism and fundamentalism exclude the possibility of fruitful dialogue” between reason and religious faith. A breach that “comes only at an enormous price to human development” (§ 53-56).
The Pope then examines the principle of subsidiarity, which offers a help to the human person “via the autonomy of intermediate bodies”. Subsidiarity “is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state” and is well-suited to direct globalization towards its authentic human development. International aids “can sometimes lock people into a state of dependence”, hence all subjects of the civil society, and not only the rulers, should be involved. “Too often, aid has served to create only fringe markets for the products” of these countries (§ 57-58). The Pope exhorts the economically developed nations to “allocate larger portions” of their gross domestic product to development aid, thus respecting the obligations undertaken. He then advocates a greater access to education and more towards “the complete formation of the person”, for relativism makes everyone poorer. An example is given by the perverse phenomenon of sex tourism. “It is sad to note that this activity takes place with the support of local governments, with silence from those in the tourists’ countries of origin, and with the complicity of many of the tour operators” (§ 59-61).
The Pope then deals with the phenomenon of migration, with “epoch-making” proportions. “No country can be expected to address today’s problems of migration by itself”. Every migrant is “a human person” who “possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance”. The Pope asks that the foreign workers be not considered as a merchandise and shows the “direct link between poverty and unemployment”. He pleads for a decent employment for all, and invites the authorities other than those in politics to focus their attention to the workers of countries where the social rights are violated (§ 62-64).
Finance, “after its misuse which has wreaked such havoc on the real economy, needs to go back to being an instrument directed towards development”. “Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity”. In addition, the Pope calls for a “regulation of the financial sector” to safeguard weaker parties (§ 65-66).
The last paragraph of the chapter deals with the “strongly felt need” for a “reform of the UN” and of the “economic institutions and international finance”. There is an “urgent need of a true world political authority”, which seeks to “observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity”. An authority vested with “effective power”. The Pope concludes with a call to establish “a greater degree of international ordering” for the management of globalization (§ 67).
The 6^th and final chapter is centred on the development of peoples and technology. The Pope cautions us against the “Promethean presumption” which would have us believe that “humanity can recreate itself through the wonders of technology”. Technology cannot have an “absolute freedom”. “The process of globalization could replace ideologies with technology” (§ 68-72). Connected with technological development are the “means of social communications”, called to promote “the dignity of persons and peoples” (§ 73).
A particularly crucial battleground in “today’s cultural struggle between the supremacy of technology and human moral responsibility is the field of bioethics”. The Pope goes on to add: “Reason without faith is doomed to flounder in an illusion of its own omnipotence”. The social question has become an “anthropological question”. Research on the foetus, on cloning, “are being promoted by today’s culture”, believing it has “mastered every mystery”. The Pope expresses his fear of a “systematic eugenic programming of births” (§ 74-75). He adds: “Development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth”. And he concludes, by exhorting us to have a “new heart” in order to rise “above a materialistic vision of human events” (§ 76-77).
In his conclusion, the Pope underlines that development “needs Christians with their arms raised towards God in prayer”; it needs “love and forgiveness, self-denial, acceptance of others, justice and peace” (§ 78-79).