Pope: Interview with Italian business daily "Il Sole 24 Ore"
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In a
wide-ranging interview with Italian national business newspaper, Il Sole
24 Ore, Pope Francis engages with a variety of issues, including:
economics, the environment, migrants, Europe, and peace.
By Christopher Wells
The interview with Il Sole 24 Ore revolves largely around socio-economic
issues, with a strong focus on the common good. Without denying the importance
of individual effort, Pope Francis emphasizes that a community can only grow as
a whole people; “social life,” he says, “is not constituted by the sum of
individualities, but by the growth of a people.”
Real growth in the community. He says that real growth can occur in a
community when we “make room to welcome everyone’s collaboration.” Real growth,
he continues, is result “of relationships sustained by tenderness and mercy,”
rather than an exclusive focus on success that can lead to “exclusions and
waste.”
Pope Francis takes the opportunity to clarify what he means by waste:
“It is not simply a phenomenon recognized as the action of exploitation and
oppression, but a truly new phenomenon.” The action of exclusion doesn’t simply
deprive people of power or wealth, but actually rejects them, throws them out,
casts them out of society.”
A person-friendly ethics. This, he says, is why we need a
“person-friendly ethics,” which he says can become a “strong stimulus for
conversion.” This kind of “person-friendly ethics” can help bridge the gap
between profit driven, and non-profit enterprises.
The Holy Father explains that behind every economic activity lies a
human person, and insists that the human person must be at the centre of how we
think of the economy. “It is work that gives dignity to man, not money.” He
identifies a focus on money and profit as a consequence of an economic system
“that is no longer capable of creating jobs.”
The human person at the centre.
This economic system, the Pope says, has made an idol of money; but it
can be opposed by a system that puts people and family at the centre. He
explains that an innovative focus on the greater good, the good of the
community as a whole, is ultimately better for companies than an exclusive
focus on profit.
In fact, a healthy overall economy, Pope Francis says, “is never
disconnected from the meaning of what is produced; and economic activity is
always also an ethical fact. He points to the teaching of Pope Leo XIII that
free trade is not sufficient of itself to ensure justice; and says that what
Leo said of individual contracts is also true of international trade. Quoting
Bd Paul VI, Pope Francis says, “Free trade can be called just only when it
conforms to the demands of social justice.”
Work and the dignity of the person. Asked about the feeling, experienced
by many people, that work is a burden, “an unbearable routine,” Pope Francis
says that everyone realizes that it is better to have a job than to not work.
Working, he says, “is good because it is linked to the dignity of the person,
to his ability to take responsibility for himself and others.” He also
describes “the high spiritual meaning” of work, by which, he says, “we give
continuity to creation by respecting it and taking care of it.”
Environment. Pope Francis also speaks on a number of other issues in his
interview. He calls on Companies to pay more attention to “Working to build the
common good”. Noting that most Companies provide professional and technical
training, he suggests they do the same with regard to values. “We have reached
the limits of what we call our common home”, he says, to the point that we are
planning to colonize new planets. “Humanity is no longer the custodian of the
earth but a tyrant exploiter.” That is why, whenever we talk about the
environment, we are really talking about humanity: “Environmental degradation
and human degradation go hand in hand,” says the Pope. “Ecological
consciousness needs new ways of living that build a harmonious future, promote
integral development, and reduce inequality.” Pope Francis cites his Encyclical
Laudato sì, when he confirms that, in order to guarantee resources for future
generations, we need to “limit the use of non-renewable resources, moderate
consumption, reuse and to recycle.”
Migrants. Pope Francis acknowledges the challenge posed by migrants,
especially to those who living in affluent countries: “Yet there is no peaceful
future for humanity except in the acceptance of diversity, solidarity, in
thinking of humanity as one family.” he states. Hope is what unites those who
leave their homes with those who welcome them. Hope is what drives us to “share
the journey of life,” he says, encouraging us not to be afraid “to share hope.”
We need to stop talking about numbers, and start talking about people.
Europe. “Europe needs hope and a future,” says Pope Francis. “We never
stop being witnesses of hope, we widen our horizons without consuming ourselves
in the preoccupation of the present.” Returning to the issue of migration, the
Pope recalls the importance of migrants being “respectful of the culture and
laws of their host country” so as to favor integration and overcome fear and
worry. “I also entrust these responsibilities to the prudence of governments,”
he says, “so that they may find common ways to give dignified welcome to our
many brothers and sisters who call for help.”
Peace. The interview concludes with Pope Francis referencing his Message
for the World Day of Peace this year in which he outlines what he calls “four
milestones for action: welcome, protect, promote and integrate.” It is always
important that our projects and proposals be inspired by “compassion, vision
and courage,” he says, “so as to seize every opportunity to advance the
construction of peace.” This is the only way to ensure that “the necessary
realism of international politics does not surrender itself to disinterest and
the globalization of indifference.”
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