Pope Francis issued an encyclical from the Vatican on October 3 entitled Fratelli Tutti (Brothers All). While not considered infallible, encyclicals are the highest authoritative form of Papal writing. The titles of Vatican encyclicals traditionally are taken from the first two words of the document. The phrase “Fratelli Tutti” is a quote from the Admonitions, the compendium of St. Francis’s guidelines from the 12th century.
In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis states,
The Covid-19 pandemic momentarily revived the sense that we are a global community, all in the same boat, where one person’s problems are the problems of all. Once more we realized that no one is saved alone; we can only be saved together.
Francis has been a firm supporter of globalism since becoming Pope, and in Fratelli Tutti, he continues his support for it:
The twenty-first century “is witnessing a weakening of the power of nation-states, chiefly because the economic and financial sectors, being transnational, tend to prevail over the political. Given this situation, it is essential to devise stronger and more efficiently organized international institutions, with functionaries who are appointed fairly by agreement among national governments, and empowered to impose sanctions”. When we talk about the possibility of some form of world authority regulated by law, we need not necessarily think of personal authority. Still, such authority ought to promote more effective world organizations, equipped with the power to provide for the global common good, eliminate hunger and poverty, and the sure defense of fundamental human rights.
He seems to call for an end to the idea of national sovereignty:
Nowadays, a firm belief in the common destination of the earth’s goods requires that this principle also be applied to nations, their territories, and their resources. Seen from the standpoint not only of the legitimacy of private property and the rights of its citizens but also of the first principle of the common destination of goods, we can then say that each country also belongs to the foreigner, inasmuch as a territory’s goods must not be denied to a needy person coming from elsewhere.
This presupposes a different way of understanding relations and exchanges between countries. If every human being possesses an inalienable dignity, if all people are my brothers and sisters, and if the world truly belongs to everyone, then it matters little whether my neighbor was born in my country or elsewhere.
The letter attacks individualism:
Individualism does not make us more free, more equal, more fraternal. The mere sum of individual interests is not capable of generating a better world for the whole human family. Nor can it save us from the many ills that are now increasingly globalized. Radical individualism is a virus that is extremely difficult to eliminate, for it is clever.
In Fratelli Tutti, Francis also attacks private property as antagonistic toward early Christian doctrine:
In the first Christian centuries, a number of thinkers developed a universal vision in their reflections on the common destination of created goods. This led them to realize that if one person lacks what is necessary to live with dignity, it is because another person is detaining it….
For my part, I would observe that “the Christian tradition has never recognized the right to private property as absolute or inviolable, and has stressed the social purpose of all forms of private property.” The principle of the common use of created goods is the “first principle of the whole ethical and social order”; it is a natural and inherent right that takes priority over others.
He implies that capitalism is a failure:
“The marketplace, by itself, cannot resolve every problem, however much we are asked to believe this dogma of neoliberal faith. Whatever the challenge, this impoverished and repetitive school of thought always offers the same recipes. Neoliberalism simply reproduces itself by resorting to the magic theories of “spillover” or “trickle” — without using the name — as the only solution to societal problems. There is little appreciation of the fact that the alleged “spillover” does not resolve the inequality that gives rise to new forms of violence threatening the fabric of society. It is imperative to have a proactive economic policy directed at “promoting an economy that favors productive diversity and business creativity” and makes it possible for jobs to be created and not cut.
Pope Francis also used the encyclical as a vehicle to attack President Trump when he said that some politicians “seek popularity by appealing to the basest and most selfish inclinations of specific sectors of the population” while creating policies that spread “hatred and fear towards other nations.”
Fratelli Tutti uses COVID-19 as justification for socialism, globalism, and radical environmentalism while attacking individualism, nationalism, and independence. At the same time, it ignores the most critical issue to millions of Catholics, other Christians, and Muslims: the most precious right of all — the right to life.
