Pope Tells Italian Post: Put People Before Profits

Audience of Pope Francis for directors and employees of Poste Italiane.

Pope Francis called on members of the Italian postal service — Poste Italiane — to put people, rather than profits, at the centre of their business model.

Poste Italiane has been “inseparably linked to the life and history of Italy,” in its modern form as a single, united nation, the Pope said during the audience on Saturday. Over the course of time, he continued, the Italian postal service has always recognized the need for continual renewal, especially, in recent years, with the rapid advances of technology, which is continually developing, and is now almost “omnipresent,” and is often invasive. Poste Italiane, he said, “is committed to facing these epochal challenges” by a prudent strategy of investment in new technologies and innovation, while at the same time having a prudent concern for the environment of “our common home.”

But “what is most important in the work of restructuring and renewal,” Pope Francis said, “is to have implemented a business strategy faithful to your original calling, to be at the service of the citizens.” Contrary to a “logic of the marketplace,” the Holy Father called on postal workers to put the care of persons, rather than profits, at the centre of their business model … (click to read more)