Nicholas - While this may make my fellows in the executive dining hall uncomfortable, I would like to ask about the Church's position on usury. I was under the impression that a productive loan, one where the borrower gains due to the nature of their investment, had created a situation wherein the charging of interest was licit. For example, when you buy a house, it most often gains in value. Thus, it would be fair for a bank to share in the gain via interest. However, I have discovered that Pope Benedict XIV had already taken this into account when he reiterated that usury is sinful, including the charging of interest on productive loans. Has this teaching developed further? How would a bank be able to profit from lending without charging interest?
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