ROME — After car giant Fiat announced plans to shut auto production at its Sicilian plant, Pope Benedict XVI waded into worldly matters to urge the company to keep the jobs in Italy.
The papal admonishment of Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne follows a dressing down from the president of France for Carlos Ghosn, head of automaker Renault, as governments put pressure on carmakers and other manufacturers that benefited from taxpayer help to keep production at home.
The pontiff gave moral support to Fiat’s 80,000 workers — who staged a nationwide strike Wednesday to protest cuts — when he publicly urged measures this week to protect jobs.
“The economic crisis is causing the loss of numerous jobs, and this situation requires a great sense of responsibility on the part of everyone: entrepreneurs, workers and governing officials,” the pope said, singling out Fiat’s Termini Imerese plant along with an Alcoa factory in Sardinia slated to close.
Neither Fiat nor Alcoa has publicly responded. The Associated Press
