Says anyone who simply wants minor fixes to existing systems “is denying reality”
By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams
The 45,000 word document, titled
"Fratelli Tutti" meaning "Brothers All" or "Brothers
and Sisters All," indicated the pope's belief that the pandemic has shown
that a major overhaul of global economic systems is needed, as the crisis has disproportionately affected the poor
in countries including the U.S., Brazil, and the U.K.; revealed the divide between low-income
workers all over the world who have had limited access to government aid and
professionals who are able to work from home; and caused the "most unequal"
recession in modern U.S. history.
"Anyone who thinks that the
only lesson to be learned was the need to improve what we were already doing,
or to refine existing systems and regulations, is denying reality," Pope
Francis said.
"The fragility of world systems
in the face of the pandemic has demonstrated that not everything can be
resolved by market freedom," the encyclical continued.
The document implicitly rebuked
conservative and neo-liberal views in the U.S. and other wealthy nations.
In the U.S., the pandemic has so far eliminated low-paying jobs at eight times the rate of high-wage jobs, and Republican leaders in the Senate have scoffed at Democrats' proposal to continue the $600-per-week unemployment benefit introduced in March, despite evidence that it had a measurable positive impact on poverty levels in the United States for several months this year. Instead, the GOP has prioritized protecting corporations from liability should their employees contract the coronavirus after returning to work.
Previous economic crises, such as
the recession in 2008 and 2009, have ultimately "increased freedom for the
truly powerful, who always find a way to escape unscathed," Pope Francis
remarked. Now, he said, society must confront "the destructive effects of
the empire of money."
Those with economic power must
"administer it for the good of all" rather than hoarding wealth, he
said, suggesting that this applies both to individual countries like the
U.S.—where a recent analysis by the People's Policy
Project showed that nearly 80% of wealth is currently owned by millionaires and
billionaires, who make up just 12% of the population—and to the global
community, where leaders of developing countries recently asked if their populations
will be "left to die" after the U.S., Russia, and Brazil refused to
commit to a global effort to make a Covid-19 vaccine available to
all.
Private property cannot be
considered a right if a select few in a society live in luxury while others
have nothing, the pope added.
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, a
spiritual writer and leader of the Poor People's Campaign in the U.S.,
interpreted Pope Francis's words as a call for an "international Poor
People's Campaign."
"There seems to be no place for
popular movements that unite the unemployed, temporary and
informal workers, and many others who do not easily find a place in
existing structures," said the Pope.
Rev. Dr. William Barber II, co-chair
of the Poor People's Campaign, thanked the pope for
"calling the church to stand with poor people's movements around the
world" in the midst of the pandemic and beyond.
