Special
‘Fratelli tutti’
Pope Francis issues social encyclical calling people to care for one another as brothers and sisters
Guest Columnist Father Patrick Riviere
It is commonly said that the two things you don’t bring up at dinner are politics and religion. If that’s the case (which I would disagree with), then one might think that Chapter 5 of Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli tutti, entitled “A Better Kind of Politics,” would be the last thing you’d want to discuss around the table. However, Pope Francis offers several important insights that attempt to bring the two worlds together. He aptly summarizes the common view and feeling toward politics when he says, “For many people today, politics is a distasteful word, often due to the mistakes, corruption and inefficiency of some politicians” (176). Politics is increasingly becoming a negative word for many reasons. We hear only about divisions and scandals, the negative effects of what is being done, and one party’s constant criticisms of the other. Pope Francis attempts to move beyond the external divisions to the deeper heart and purpose of politics. Politics comes from the Greek word
polis, which simply means “city.” Its focus is on allowing a group of people living together to truly flourish in society. The goal and purpose of politics is rooted in the people it is meant to serve. All too often in our society, things that are meant to be for the good of the people are twisted and manipulated to actually be self-serving. Pope Francis characterizes these as “popular” and “populist.” Politics is meant to be “popular,” meaning for the common good of the people. It is meant to acknowledge that men and women can have shared goals and values that transcend themselves and their differences. However, he acknowledges that often politics and government become not popular but populist, when “individuals are able to exploit politically a people’s culture, under whatever ideological banner, for their own personal advantage or continuing grip on power” (159). This populist-driven politics focuses only on short-term advantage, and “one meets popular demands for the sake of gaining votes or support, but without advancing in an arduous and constant effort to generate the resources people need” (161). What on the surface seems to be a concern for the other is actually a concern for the self, and instead of pursuing what is actually good for all people, this kind of politics seeks primarily to advance those in power. Pope Francis highlights the interplay
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of welfare projects and employment opportunities as an example of this. He says that the truly popular thing is “to provide everyone with the opportunity to nurture the seeds that God has given (them),” while “welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs, should be considered merely temporary responses” (161-162). He expresses the desire to actually work to equip people to truly succeed instead of short-term solutions. An important key that Pope Francis lifts up in moving from a populist politics to a popular politics is, unsurprisingly, the role of the virtue of charity or love. Charity is consistently lifted up in the Scriptures as the highest of virtues, that which holds everything together, that which God is by his very nature. It makes sense, then, that in a realm that is meant to focus on the common good of all people, the virtue that wills the good of the other person would be integral. He says that charity is not only expressed in close and individual relationships but is also shown in “macro-relationships: Social, economic and political” (181). This so-called “social charity” or “political charity” makes us seek the good of all people in the social dimension that unites them and creates a force capable of inspiring new ways of approaching the problems of today’s world, of profoundly renewing structures, social organizations, and legal systems from within (183). Political charity
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