Time to reconsider our way of life
In a new encyclical, Pope Francis imagines societies that are more caring, more concentrated on helping those in need and less attached to the principles of market capitalism.
In a lengthy and wide-ranging encyclical, Pope Francis says the current coronavirus pandemic makes it “all the more urgent that we rethink our lifestyle”.
“Once this health crisis passes, our worst response would be to plunge even more deeply into feverish consumerism and new forms of egotistic self-preservation,” Francis writes in the opening chapter, which addresses the “dark clouds” the Pope says he sees hanging over the world.
Among things the Pope presents for discussion are: trickle-down economics, the world’s unfair distribution of wealth, continued use of the just war theory, the death penalty, and populist leaders who appeal to people’s “basest and most selfish inclinations”.
Fratelli Tutti is the third encyclical from Francis in his seven-year papacy, following Laudato Si’ in 2015, which addressed the continuing global climate crisis, and Lumen Fidei in 2013, which celebrated the Christian faith and which was largely a product of retired Pope Benedict XVI.
The new text takes its title from one of the St Francis of Assisi admonitions to the early members of his 13th-century religious order, whom he addressed in Latin as his brothers. Although Pope Francis opens the encyclical with the two Italian words, he clarifies that the saint, in the language of the times, was speaking to both “his brothers and sisters”. The Pope also states that he intends the text to be “an invitation to dialogue among all people of goodwill”.
The encyclical is long, with 287 numbered paragraphs over more than 43,000 words. It also contains 288 footnotes, which primarily refer to speeches and writings by Francis throughout his papacy.
Fratelli Tutti: A brief video introduction
Video presentation of the Fratelli tutti encyclical
Fratelli Tutti report at the Catholic News Agency
Fratelli Tutti highlights at Vatican News
Fratelli Tutti - Fraternity and Social Friendship