Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis’ encyclical on “social friendship” released in October, sounds like a new gelato flavor—something between fior di latte and tutti frutti. Like the Italian frozen dessert, Francis’ pastoral sections melt in your mouth—but a nutty, bitter crunch hides in every bite.
Encyclical letters are used by popes to address important issues. Recently, these letters have been addressed not only to Catholics, but to “all people of good will.”
Where Laudato Si’, released five years ago, developed new doctrine and broke ground in Catholic social teaching to address the fierce urgency of climate collapse, “On Universal Fraternity and Social Friendship” (as it’s called in English) counsels us not to backslide as a human family. Cardinal Michael Czerny said, “If Laudato Si’ taught us that every thing is connected, then Fratelli Tutti teaches us that everyone is connected.”
Steeped in the tradition of Catholic social thought, Francis applies social ethics to the human conflicts we face right now—migration, racism, neoliberal economic policies, nationalist demagogues and exclusionary populist movements, war, terrorism, and capital punishment. All these trends, writes Francis, deny Jesus’ call for a common affection for all peoples rooted in their human dignity. In other words, Francis offers a clear and comprehensive remix of his greatest hits.
Francis uses the parable of the Good Samaritan as the encyclical’s biblical backbone—a rich and generous reading that even explores the dependency of the Samaritan on a local business (the inn) to achieve a social good. Social friendship allows the Samaritan “to interrupt his journey, change his plans, and unexpectedly come to the aid of an injured person who needed his help.” The parable’s lens allows Francis to assail an ideal in which too many of us have put our faith: that we are “self-made, prosperous orphans,” as Czerny put it. We don’t recognize that God created us. We think we deserve everything we have and consume. We think we are autonomous and alone, with no familial duties or love. An empty lie like this allows us to readily sacrifice some of the human family for the sake of others “considered worthy of a carefree existence.” The medicine for this kind of sickness, Francis advises, is to remember that “no one is saved alone; we can only be saved together.”
Francis’ blunt application of Catholic social teaching on economic life continues to rattle free market capitalists in the U.S. (with its radical-sounding notion that economies exist to serve people, not the other way around). But Americans might also learn from Francis’ analysis of how bullies operate. “Destroying self-esteem is an easy way to dominate others. Behind these trends that tend to level our world, there flourish powerful interests that take advantage of such low self-esteem, while attempting, through the media and networks, to create a new culture in the service of the elite. This plays into the opportunism of financial speculators and raiders, and the poor always end up the losers,” writes Francis.
On war, the pope reiterates that Jesus openly condemned the use of force to gain power over others and that “just war” is a concept we no “longer uphold in our day,” demonstrating a “steady tightening down of expectations for the usefulness of just war theory,” according to theologian Gerald Schlabach. As “just war” moves away from the heart of Catholic doctrine, we will see a robust ethic of Catholic nonviolence begin to flourish.
Advent is a season for deep murmurings in the heart, where we ponder the mystical affections between an animating Spirit of Life and our own earthy flesh and bone. The ligament that binds Spirit to bone has an ancient name. It’s called love.
In a time when so many bear so much out of sight of neighbors or family, Francis reminds us: “No single act of love for God will be lost, no generous effort is meaningless, no painful endurance is wasted. All of these encircle our world like a vital force.”
Rose Marie Berger, a Catholic peace activist and poet, is senior editor of Sojourners magazine. She is author ofBending the Arch: Poems.
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