Steve Chiotakis: The Vatican is now weighing in on the global economy, calling for — among other things — a tax on all financial transactions, and a higher global authority to regulate the world’s financial institutions.

Reporter Christopher Werth has more from London.

Christopher Werth: The Vatican wants to counter what it calls “selfishness,” “greed,” and the “idolatry of the market.”

It says existing global institutions like the International Monetary Fund are no longer suited to stabilizing the global economy. In its place, the Vatican wants a “global public authority” to help place ethics at the heart of economic policy.

Father Thomas Reese is with the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.

Thomas Reese: What they’re looking towards is a world authority that can regulate the world economy, and that can make sure that it’s operating in a way that helps people, and not just the richest people and the richest countries in the world.

Reese says the Vatican doesn’t expect the measures to be adopted anytime soon. But he says as the world becomes more globalized, there will be more need for a global authority.

In London, I’m Christopher Werth for Marketplace.