One year after the encyclical 'Fratelli tutti', what has changed?Re-reading Fratelli Tutti: complexity, action and dreams"Fratelli Tutti": Friendship and fraternity, dialogue and encounter."Only by recognizing the dignity of every human person, can we revive a worldwide desire for brotherhood among all of us." (FT 8). Pope Francis has given the Church his third encyclical entitled Fratelli TuttiAll brothers and sisters". Developed in eight chapters, it constitutes a compendium on fraternity and social friendship. It was inspired mainly by St. Francis of Assisi and his testimony of love for all people that knew no boundaries.
An encyclical of the time
Fratelli tutti addresses the novelty of the times in which we are livingThe world is becoming increasingly divided between the impoverished and the affluent. It also alerts us to the consequences of the global pandemic We are living through (exposing our false securities, the inability to act together, the discarding of the poor and weak for the sake of profitability). On the other hand, the Covid-19 has also accelerated the the call to universal fraternity that the Gospel and the Social Doctrine of the Church insistently make to us..
The Holy Father speaks to us of dreams that have been shattered into pieces, such as fraternity and equality, and that have not been extended to all humanity. True wisdom must involve an encounter with reality. It is necessary to put concrete faces to the affirmations we make.
Like the Good Samaritan
When we read this encyclical, we will all feel challenged and upset. In the face of so much pain in our world, in the face of so many wounds, the only way out is to be like the good samaritan. We all have something of the wounded man on the road, the Good Samaritan or those who pass by. It is about propose an encounter with those who are fallen on the road and adopt the attitude of the Good Samaritan.
If we are truly aware that we are all brothers and sisters, those who come to our land must be welcomed as such. We must have a heart open to the whole world and the Pope emphasizes how to bring the local into dialogue with the universal.
The key to solidarity
Among other virtues, the encyclical stresses solidaritywhich "is to think and act in terms of community, of prioritizing the life of all over the appropriation of goods by some. It is also fighting structural causes of poverty, inequality, lack of jobs, land and housing, denial of social and labor rights. It is to confront the destructive effects of the Empire of money. [...] Solidarity, understood in its deepest sense, is a way of making history." (FT 116). Solidarity is also one of the points of support to channel it precisely at the present time.
The Pope warns us that a capitalism of discarding seems to be triumphingprecarious work and subsidies. Freedom and equality are in danger. Let us not expect everything from those who govern us.Let's start from the bottom and one by one, to the last corner of the world. Let us dream as one humanityEach one with his own voice, all brothers and sisters. Many of us who recognize ourselves as children and call God our Father want to be a sign and instrument of this exciting project.
