Editing Pope Benedict XVI (section)

== Positions on morality and politics ==
=== Contraception and HIV/AIDS ===
In 2005, the Pope listed several ways to combat the spread of HIV, including chastity, fidelity in marriage, and anti-poverty efforts; he also rejected the use of condoms.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4081276.stm|title=Pope rejects condoms for Africa|date=10 June 2005|publisher=BBC}}</ref> The alleged Vatican investigation of whether there are any cases when married persons may use condoms to protect against the spread of infections surprised many Catholics in the wake of John Paul{{nbsp}}II's consistent refusal to consider condom use in response to AIDS.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0%2C2144%2C1979145%2C00.html |title=Catholic Church to Ease Ban on Condom Use |publisher=Deutsche Welle |date=24 April 2006 |access-date=28 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819073016/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1979145,00.html |archive-date=19 August 2011}}</ref> However, the Vatican has since stated that no such change in the Church's teaching can occur.<ref name="time.com">{{cite news |author=Israely, Jeff 30 April 2006 |url=http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901060508-1189193,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060528191933/http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901060508-1189193,00.html |archive-date=28 May 2006 |title=Condom Fight: The Vatican Strikes Back |magazine=Time |date=30 April 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010}}</ref> ''TIME'' also reported in its edition of 30 April 2006 that the Vatican's position remains what it always has been with Vatican officials "flatly dismiss[ing] reports that the Vatican is about to release a document that will condone any condom use."<ref name="time.com" />

In March 2009, the Pope stated:
<blockquote>I would say that this problem of AIDS cannot be overcome merely with money, necessary though it is. If there is no human dimension, if Africans do not help, the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics: on the contrary, they increase it. The solution must have two elements: firstly, bringing out the human dimension of sexuality, that is to say a spiritual and human renewal that would bring with it a new way of behaving towards others, and secondly, true friendship offered above all to those who are suffering, a willingness to make sacrifices and to practise self-denial, to be alongside the suffering.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview of the Holy Father Benedict XVI during the flight to Africa |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/march/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20090317_africa-interview_en.html |date=17 March 2009 |access-date=7 October 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011221301/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/march/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20090317_africa-interview_en.html |archive-date=11 October 2011 }}</ref></blockquote>

In November 2010, in a book-length interview, Benedict, using the example of male prostitutes, stated that the use of condoms, with the intention of reducing the risk of HIV infection, may be an indication that the prostitute is intending to reduce the evil connected with his immoral activity.<ref name="ReferenceA">Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20101221_luce-del-mondo_en.html "Note on the banalization of sexuality Regarding certain interpretations of 'Light of the World'"] [https://web.archive.org/web/20111009174236/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20101221_luce-del-mondo_en.html WebCitation archive]</ref> In the same interview, the Pope also reiterated the traditional teaching of the Church that condoms are not seen as a "real or moral solution" to the [[HIV/AIDS pandemic]]. Further, in December 2010, the [[Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith]] explained that Benedict's statement did not constitute a legitimization of either contraception or prostitution, which remains gravely immoral.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

=== Homosexuality ===
{{See also|Catholic Church and homosexuality}}
During his time as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Cardinal Ratzinger addressed the issue of homosexuality. In 1986 the CDF sent a letter to all bishops entitled: ''[[On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons]]''. The letter condemned a liberal interpretation of the earlier CDF document ''Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics'', which had led to a "benign" attitude "to the homosexual condition itself". ''On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons'' clarified that the Church's position on homosexuality was that "although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder."<ref name="OPCHP">Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [http://www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons"] 1 October 1986. Retrieved 28 September 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111006042232/http://www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html WebCitation archive]</ref> However, the document also condemned homophobic attacks and violence, stating that "It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs."<ref name="OPCHP" />

In 1992, Ratzinger again approved CDF documents declaring that homosexual "inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder" and extended this principle to civil law. "Sexual orientation", the document said, was not equivalent to race or ethnicity, and it declared that it was "not unjust discrimination to take sexual orientation into account."<ref name="gland">{{cite news|first=William |last=Saletan |author-link=William Saletan |title=Gland Inquisitor: Pope Benedict's antigay tendencies |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2131019/ |work=Slate |date=29 November 2005 |access-date=30 December 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812182629/http://www.slate.com/id/2131019/ |archive-date=12 August 2011}}</ref>

On 22 December 2008, Benedict gave an end-of-year message to the Roman Curia in which he talked about gender and the important distinction between men and women. He said that the Church viewed the distinction as central to human nature, and "asks that this order of creation be respected". In his words, the Church must "protect man from self-destruction". He said "something like a human ecology" was needed, and added: "Rain forests deserve indeed to be protected, but no less so does man." He attacked "gender theories", which he described as "man's attempt at self-emancipation from creation and the Creator."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2008/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20081222_curia-romana_en.html |title=Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Members of the Roman Curia for the Traditional Exchange of Christmas Greetings |publisher=Vatican.va |date=22 December 2008 |access-date=23 June 2013}}</ref><ref name="gender">{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Kington |author2=Riazat Butt |title=Pope angers campaigners with speech seen as attack on homosexuality |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/24/pope-speech-gender-gay-sexuality |work=The Guardian |location=London |date= 24 December 2008|access-date=30 December 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016161618/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/24/pope-speech-gender-gay-sexuality |archive-date=16 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Rachel |last=Donadio |title=The Vatican: In Speech, Pope Calls Homosexual Behavior a Violation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/world/europe/23briefs-INSPEECHPOPE_BRF.html |work=The New York Times |date=22 December 2008 |access-date=28 December 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417195601/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/world/europe/23briefs-INSPEECHPOPE_BRF.html |archive-date=17 April 2009}}</ref>

[[LGBT]] groups, such as the Italian [[Arcigay]] and German [[LSVD]], announced that they found Benedict's comments homophobic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lsvd.de/611+M5e34e9a2777.0.html |title=LSVD:Warum hetzt der Papst immer wieder gegen Homosexuelle? |publisher=Lsvd.de |date=22 June 2008 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117155132/http://www.lsvd.de/611%2BM5e34e9a2777.0.html |archive-date=17 January 2010}}</ref> Aurelio Mancuso, head of Arcigay, said "A divine programme for men and women is out of line with nature, where the roles are not so clear."<ref name="gender" /> Canadian author [[Daniel Gawthrop (writer)|Daniel Gawthrop]], in a critical biography, ''The Trial of Pope Benedict'', said that the Pope blamed homosexuality "for a problem the church had willingly enabled for hundreds of years".<ref>''The Trial of Pope Benedict: Joseph Ratzinger and the Vatican's Assault on Reason, Compassion, and Human Dignity'' (2013, Arsenal Pulp Press)</ref>

Vatican spokesman [[Federico Lombardi]] claimed the Pope had not wished specifically to attack people with homosexual inclinations, and had not mentioned gays or lesbians in his text. Lombardi insisted that there had been an overreaction to the pope's remarks, saying: "He was speaking more generally about gender theories which overlook the fundamental difference in creation between men and women and focus instead on cultural conditioning." Nevertheless, the remarks were interpreted as a call to save mankind from homosexuals and transsexuals.<ref name="gender" />

==== Same-sex marriage ====
In an address to a conference of the Diocese of Rome held at the basilica of [[St. John Lateran]] 6 June 2005, Benedict remarked on the issues of [[same-sex marriage]] and abortion:<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 June 2005 |title=Pope Slams Gay 'Pseudo-Matrimony' |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-slams-gay-pseudo-matrimony/ |access-date=8 February 2021 |publisher=CBS News |language=en-US}}</ref>

{{blockquote
| The various forms of the dissolution of matrimony today, like free unions, trial marriages and going up to pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex, are rather expressions of an anarchic freedom that wrongly passes for true freedom of man ... from here it becomes all the more clear how contrary it is to human love, to the profound vocation of man and woman, to systematically close their union to the gift of life, and even worse to suppress or tamper with the life that is born.
| title  = 
| source = 
}}

During a 2012 Christmas speech,<ref>{{Cite web |author=Benedict XVI |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2012/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20121221_auguri-curia_en.html |title=Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI on the occasion of Christmas greetings |publisher=Vatican |date=21 December 2012 |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref> Benedict made remarks about the present-day interpretation of the notion of [[gender]]. He stated that a new philosophy of sexuality, which he rejects, suggests that "sex is no longer a given element of nature, that man has to accept and personally make sense of: it is a social role that we choose for ourselves", and "The words of the creation account: 'male and female he created them' (Gen 1:27) no longer apply". Although he did not mention the topic, his words were interpreted by news media as denunciations of same-sex marriage,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-denounces-gay-marriage-as-people-manipulating-their-godgiven-gender-to-suit-sexual-choices-8428862.html |title=Pope denounces gay marriage as 'people manipulating their God-given gender to suit sexual choices' |first1=Jerome |last1=Taylor |newspaper=The Independent |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221170419/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-denounces-gay-marriage-as-people-manipulating-their-godgiven-gender-to-suit-sexual-choices-8428862.html |archive-date=21 December 2012 |date=21 December 2012 |access-date=21 December 2012}}</ref> with some outlets adding that Benedict would have called it a threat to world peace similar to abortion and euthanasia.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/pope-makes-new-anti-gay-marriage-stance/story-fn3dxix6-1226542140170 |title=Pope makes new anti-gay marriage stance |newspaper=The Australian |agency=Australian Associated Press (AAP) |access-date=21 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221130951/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/pope-makes-new-anti-gay-marriage-stance/story-fn3dxix6-1226542140170 |archive-date=21 December 2012}}</ref> In March 2012, he stated that heterosexual marriages should be defended from "every possible misrepresentation of their true nature".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/03/09/pope-straight-marriage-must-be-defended-from-misrepresentation/ |title=Pope: Straight marriage must be 'defended from misrepresentation' |first1=Stephen |last1=Gray |website=Pink News |date=9 March 2012 |access-date=21 December 2012}}</ref>

=== International relations ===
{{Main|Foreign relations of the Holy See}}

==== Migrants and refugees ====
In a message released 14 November 2006, during a Vatican press conference for the 2007 annual observance of [[Refugee#World Refugee Day|World Day for Migrants and Refugees]], the Pope urged the ratification of international conventions and policies that defend all migrants, including refugees, exiles, [[Emergency evacuation|evacuees]] and [[internally displaced person]]s. "The church encourages the ratification of the international legal instruments that aim to defend the rights of migrants, refugees and their families," the Pope said. "Much is already being done for the integration of the families of immigrants, although much still remains to be done."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=22001 |title=Pope Benedict XVI message for 93rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees |publisher=Catholic Online |date=14 November 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021221338/http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=22001&page=2 |archive-date=21 October 2012 }}and</ref>

Benedict also promoted various UN events, such as [[World Refugee Day]], on which he offered up special prayers for refugees and called for the international community to do more to secure refugees' human rights. He also called on Catholic communities and organizations to offer them concrete help.<ref>Wooden, Cindy {{cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0603503.htm |title=Pope offers prayers to refugees for United Nations' World Refugee Day |publisher=Catholicnews.com |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629173344/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0603503.htm |archive-date=29 June 2011 }}</ref>

In 2015, it was reported that Benedict was "praying for migrants and refugees" from Syria.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/09/07/the_pope_emeritus_is_praying_for_migrants_and_refugees/1170080 |title=The Pope Emeritus is praying for migrants and refugees |publisher=Vatican Radio |date=7 September 2015 |access-date=22 September 2015}}</ref>

==== China ====
{{Main|China–Holy See relations}}
In 2007, Benedict sent a letter at [[Easter]] to Catholics in China that could have wide-ranging implications for the Church's relationship with China's leadership. The letter provides long-requested guidance to Chinese bishops on how to respond to illicitly ordained bishops, as well as how to strengthen ties with the [[Patriotic Association]] and the Communist government.<ref name="Letter">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070527_china_en.html |title=Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to Chinese Catholics, 27 May 2007 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906022747/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070527_china_en.html |archive-date=6 September 2011 }}</ref> Benedict wrote that despite the two [[Catholic Church in China|Catholic communities in China]] (i.e. the "Patriotic" Church and the [[Underground church|"Underground" Church]]) there is no [[Schism in Christianity|schism]] between them. Benedict stated that sacraments performed by the priests not in unity with the Vatican were [[Validity and liceity (Catholic Church)|valid but also illicit]]. He stated that the Catholic Church accepts the legitimacy of the civil authorities in secular matters and that the Pope has authority in ecclesial matters, and therefore the involvement of the Catholic Patriotic Association in the appointment of bishops (and its bishops conference) violated Catholic doctrine. The letter also removed the permission granted by the Vatican in 1978 to the Underground church to appoint bishops without Vatican approval.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Moody |first=Peter |title=The Taiwan Question in Xi Jinping's Era: Beijing's Evolving Taiwan Policy and Taiwan's Internal and External Dynamics |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2024 |isbn=9781032861661 |editor-last=Zhao |editor-first=Suisheng |editor-link=Suisheng Zhao |location=London and New York |chapter=The Vatican and Taiwan: An Anomalous Diplomatic Relationship}}</ref>{{Rp|page=185}}

==== Korea ====
On 13 November 2006, Benedict said that the dispute over the [[North Korea nuclear weapons program]] should be resolved through negotiations, in his first public comment on the security issue, a news report said. "The Holy See encourages bilateral or multilateral negotiations, convinced that the solution must be sought through peaceful means and in respect for agreements taken by all sides to obtain the denuclearisation of the [[Korean Peninsula]]." Benedict was talking to the new Japanese ambassador to the Vatican.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-154356074.html "Pope urges talks to make Korean Peninsula nuclear free"]{{dead link|date=July 2019}}{{cbignore}} YON – Yonhap News Agency of Korea 14 November 2006. Retrieved 26 January 2011</ref>

==== Turkey ====
{{Main|Holy See–Turkey relations}}
In a 2004 ''[[Le Figaro]]'' interview, Ratzinger said that Turkey, which is demographically Muslim but governmentally [[Secularism in Turkey|secular by virtue of its state constitution]], should seek its future in an association of [[Muslim nations]] rather than the European Union, which Ratzinger stated has Christian roots. He said Turkey had always been "in permanent contrast to Europe and that linking it to Europe would be a mistake".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=31436|title=News Features|website=catholicculture.org}}</ref>

Later visiting the country to "reiterate the solidarity between the cultures," it was reported that Benedict made a counter-statement backing [[Accession of Turkey to the European Union|Turkey's bid to join the EU]]. Turkish prime minister [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] said that the Pope told him in their meeting that while the Vatican seeks to stay out of politics, it desires Turkey's membership in the EU.<ref>Krause-Jackson, Flavia and Mark Bentley {{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a0hofLY1v5.U&refer=europe |title=Pope Benedict Backs Turkey's European Union Bid |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |date=28 November 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626182256/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a0hofLY1v5.U&refer=europe |archive-date=26 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6192770.stm |title=Pope calls for religious exchange |work=BBC News |date=28 November 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025023949/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6192770.stm |archive-date=25 October 2011 }}</ref> However, the Common Declaration of Pope Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI and [[Patriarch Bartholomew&nbsp;I of Constantinople]] implied that support for Turkey's membership in the European Union would be contingent on the establishment of religious freedom in Turkey:<ref>Donohue, William [http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idcategory=34&idSub=160&idArticle=6852 "Pope did not change stance on Turkey and EU"], ''Spero News'', 30 November 2006 [https://web.archive.org/web/20120121121309/http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idcategory=34&idSub=160&idArticle=6852 WebCitation archive]</ref> "In every step towards unification, minorities must be protected, with their cultural traditions and the distinguishing features of their religion."<ref name=":5">{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061130_dichiarazione-comune_en.html |title=Common Declaration by His Holiness Benedict XVI and Patriarch Bartholomew I |publisher=Vatican.va |date=30 November 2006|access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref>

==== Israel ====
{{Main|Holy See–Israel relations}}
In May 2009, Benedict visited Israel.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cashman |first=Greer Fay |title=Grapevine: The eyes have it |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=12 May 2009 |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242029511750&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter |access-date=14 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624084725/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242029511750&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter |archive-date=24 June 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=David D'Or and Dudu Fisher Sing for the Pope |publisher=Consulate General of Israel in New York |year=2009 |url=http://www.israelfm.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=165&Itemid=146 |access-date=14 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622005506/http://www.israelfm.org/index.php?option=com_content |archive-date=22 June 2010 }}</ref> This was the third Papal visit to Israel, the previous ones being made by Paul{{nbsp}}VI in 1964 and John Paul{{nbsp}}II in 2000.

==== Vietnam ====
{{Main|Holy See–Vietnam relations}}
Vietnamese prime minister [[Nguyễn Tấn Dũng]] met with Benedict at the Vatican on 25 January 2007 in a "new and important step towards establishing diplomatic ties".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6297141.stm|title=Vietnamese leader meets pontiff|date=25 January 2007|publisher=BBC}}</ref> The Pope met with Vietnamese president [[Nguyễn Minh Triết]] on 11 December 2009. Vatican officials called the meeting "a significant stage in the progress of bilateral relations with Vietnam."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/18032/relations-progress-as-vietnamese-president-meets-with-pope |title=Relations progress as Vietnamese president meets with Pope |publisher=Catholicnewsagency.com |date=11 December 2009 |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref>

=== Global economy ===
In July 2009, Benedict published his third encyclical, ''Caritas in veritate''<ref name=":0">{{cite web
|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html
|title=Caritas in Veritate 'Charity in Truth'
|publisher=Vatican Publishing House
|author=Benedict XVI
|date=7 July 2009 |access-date=7 July 2009 |url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902070515/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html
|archive-date=2 September 2011
}}</ref> (''Charity in truth''), setting out the philosophical and moral foundations for human development, individually and collectively, in striving for the [[common good]]. This was the last encyclical of Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI's papacy.

''Caritas in veritate'' makes a case for the charitable distribution of wealth in considerable detail and discusses the environment, migration, terrorism, sexual tourism, bioethics, energy and population. ''The Financial Times'' reported that Benedict's advocacy for a fairer redistribution of wealth helped set the agenda for the 2009 July G8 summit.<ref>{{Cite news
| url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cc9150d0-6af4-11de-861d-00144feabdc0.html
| title = Pope condemns capitalism's 'failures'
|work=Financial Times
| author=Dinmore, Guy
| date = 7 July 2009
| access-date =7 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news
|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6657155.ece
|title=Pope Benedict XVI calls for new economic system based on love in G8 message
|work=[[The Times]]
|author=Gledhill, Ruth
|date=7 July 2009 |access-date=7 July 2009 |location=London
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622045839/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6657155.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2
|archive-date=22 June 2022
}}and</ref>

Also included in ''Charity in Truth'' is advocacy for [[tax choice]]:
<blockquote>One possible approach to development aid would be to apply effectively what is known as fiscal subsidiarity, allowing citizens to decide how to allocate a portion of the taxes they pay to the State. Provided it does not degenerate into the promotion of special interests, this can help to stimulate forms of welfare solidarity from below, with obvious benefits in the area of solidarity for development as well.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>

=== Nuclear energy ===
Benedict supported the peaceful use of [[Nuclear power|nuclear energy]] as a tool for development and the fight against poverty. In his message for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]], he confirmed: "The Holy See, fully approving of the IAEA's goal, has been a member from the organisation's foundation and continues to support its activity."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.karpasha.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=273:pope-calls-for-disarmament-backs-nuke-energy&Itemid=66 |title=Pope calls for disarmament, backs nuke energy |work=karpasha.com |date=13 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713135315/http://news.karpasha.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=273%3Apope-calls-for-disarmament-backs-nuke-energy&Itemid=66 |archive-date=13 July 2011 |last1=Com |first1=www. Karpasha }}</ref>