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INTENTION : |
That those in charge of finance will work with governments to regulate the financial sphere and protect citizens from its dangers.
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Pope Francis' Vision of an Inclusive Global Economy
From the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has in His first Apostolic Exhortation Evagelii Gaudium in 2013, condemned "an economy of exclusion and inequality."
He writes: "Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say "thou shalt not" to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills," (Laudato Si' LS n.53).
This assessment's response has been quite different in developed and developing countries: too harsh for the first, welcomed by the latter who saw the social reality in which they live and under which they suffer.
Beyond the various interpretations, Pope Francis calls us "to seek new ways of understanding the economy and progress" and develop a better financial and economic system for the 21st century.
In his 2014 message to the World Economic Forum in Davos Pope Francis said that: "a new political and business mentality (has to) take shape, one capable of guiding all economic and financial activity within the horizon of an ethical approach which is truly humane."
At the same time, it is an invitation to search together for practical ways to translate a new way of thinking into a new way of acting, even by creating new, more suitable mechanisms or institutions. Faith saves and heals, but it is also incarnated.
Jesus reminds his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Mt. 7:21)
And the letter of James is even more detailed: "What good is it, my brothers and sisters if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:14-17).
In this biblical tradition, Pope Francis looks at today's economy, particularly taking into account the words that Jesus used to describe the Final Judgement, where the hungry and thirsty, the stranger and naked, the sick and the person in prison become the way to salvation for anyone who loves and helps them (Mt 25:31-46).
Diagnosis of the current situation
First, the Holy Father begins his analysis by pointing out that the world is seriously ill. He writes: "The technocratic paradigm also tends to dominate economic and political life. The economy accepts every advance in technology with a view to profit, without concern for its potentially negative impact on human beings. Finance overwhelms the real economy." (LS n.109)
"Technocratic paradigm" refers to the tendency that sees any aspect of existence and reality "completely open to manipulation." The quest for profit becomes the reason for the control of reality made possible by the technocratic paradigm. Combining these two variables (profit and technocratic paradigm) produces a "throw away" culture that creates no concrete values.
Pope Francis' preoccupation is above all for the protection of the human person in her/his existential circumstances and to encourage the financial structures to avoid the extreme positions he describes. "When at the centre of the system is no longer man but money, when money becomes an idol, men and women are reduced to mere instruments of a social and economic system characterised dominated by deep unbalances. And in this way what is not of service to this logic is thrown away."
The diagnosis of the evils plaguing the economy and the planet aims at showing the need for change, for action now. The Pope does not condemn economic activity; he knows its value but demands ethical compliance and a constructive role in promoting inclusiveness.
The root problem is extreme individualism that clashes with the common good. With an updated language, Pope Francis pursues this teaching and refers to the tyranny of "relativism" and adds: "There cannot be true peace if everyone is his criterion if everyone can always claim his rights exclusively, without at the same time caring for the good of others, of everyone, based on the nature that unites every human being on this earth."
(Address to the Diplomatic Corps 2013)
By Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, CS
(An Extract)
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