Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at “Les Essentiels des Bernardins”, Paris

Paris, 18 November 2024

It is both an honour and a privilege to address you at the esteemed Collège des Bernardins, a site rich in history and intellectual tradition.

As I stand in this restored medieval college, I am reminded of the profound role that monastic institutions have played in spreading Christian values throughout Europe.

In these environments, ideals of social responsibility flourished through communal living. The principle of “ora et labora” (pray and work) underlined the dignity of labour. And the study of theology and major disciplines of human knowledge contributed to Western thought.

These moral foundations contributed to the emergence of the Church’s social doctrine in the 19th century and the creation of the welfare state.

The welfare state developed in response to rising inequality, hazardous working conditions and urban poverty triggered by the Industrial…