Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to have this opportunity to greet you, distinguished representatives of the European automobile industry and members of the Committee of Common Market Automobile Constructors, on the occasion of your association’s meeting in Rome.
In her social teaching, the Church insists that all sound economic progress should be guided by respect for the demands of justice and by reverence for the dignity of the human person. I recently had occasion to repeat this fundamental moral principle within the context of my Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace. As leaders of an industry which employs vast numbers of people throughout Europe and whose products are so important for modern living, you are familiar with the tensions which can arise as you strive to balance concern for productivity and profit with a sensitivity to the increasingly complex ethical questions associated with the management of your business interests. Inasmuch as many of those questions transcend national boundaries, organizations like yours can be of great service to society.
By deepening their awareness of the ethical dimensions of development and by adopting an approach of effective solidarity, the leaders of industry can do much to address issues such as unemployment, the protection of the natural environment, and the need for a more equitable distribution of the world’s goods. These, in fact, are essential conditions for the establishment of more just social and economic structures, with consequent improvements on both the material and the spiritual dimensions of the lives of millions of human beings.
Ladies and Gentlemen: it is my hope that your meeting will enable you to attain a closer and more fruitful cooperation in pursuing such a noble and urgent ideal. I offer my encouragement for your efforts and I willingly invoke upon you and your families the abundant blessings of Almighty God.

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