Cardinal Appiah Turkson delivers Pope’s maiden message to WEF

Though he may not have been chosen by the conclave as successor to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson continues to play a vital role for the widely loved Pope Francis, who was given the nod on March 13, 2013.

Not only did he represent the Holy See at the funeral of Nelson Mandela last year but Cardinal Appiah Turkson was also handed a rare opportunity this week as he represented Pope Francis during the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

It was the first papal address at the Forum, which has 2,500 participants including world leaders.

Cardinal Turkson, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, urged the participants to adopt an all-inclusive approach in their negotiations.

The address comes months after Pope Francis criticized a free-market system being practised in the world at the expense of the poor.

But asked by Deborah Ball, the Italy Bureau Chief of Wall Street Journal, how he feels among such high-rated business-minded participants, Cardinal Turkson pointed out that it was his second time of joining the Forum and does not in any way feel like "fish out of water".

He was also defensive of the Pope's stance on capitalism, adducing that: “Asking a business to be careful about some blind spot that is developing doesn’t merit being classified as a Marxist. That kind of caution is something that every human activity requires.”