"Fratelli tutti": Chapter One

Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis, the first pope from south of the equator, has brought a distinct open minded perspective to the papacy. Remember his first words after election when, in accordance with tradition, he appeared on the famous balcony of St. Peter’s to the cheers of thousands! He asked the crowd to bow their heads and “Pray for me!” This humility informs all his thoughts and actions since then. It is magnified in his beautiful exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” evident through every word of his encyclical (official teaching letter) of 2015, Laudato si, on the care of our common home, and now invites each of us to realize that virtue in our own lives in this magnificent teaching Fratelli tutti.

This latest encyclical cannot be fully appreciated or applied in our own lives until we accept the message of the other two. In the first, Pope Francis offers “the approach of a missionary disciple, an approach ‘nourished by the light and strength of the Holy Spirit’” (par 50). This action of the Holy Spirit permeates all his teachings and calls us to a new awareness that we all have that Spirit, with seven great gifts, received in confirmation, which empower us to present the Gospel, in all its richness, to the world, starting in our own families and communities. In paragraph 117, he writes “The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, transforms our hearts and enables us to enter into the perfect union of the blessed Trinity, where all things find their unity.”

In Laudato si, he takes us back to the beginning of time where God looked on all creation and “saw that it was good.” He then challenges us to accept and apply the reality that “all creatures are moving forward with and through us to a common point of arrival, which is God” (par 83). Each of us, “capable of entering into dialogue with others and with God himself” (par 81), is obliged to look with love on all God’s creation and offer thanks, through our words and actions, for the gift which is ours, and to share that gift with others. Earth, from which we are all made, belongs to God and we are stewards of it and all it holds, for a very brief breath of time. This is the heart of the Gospel, and Pope Francis wants us to understand that. Only then will we take the greatest care of this beautiful world and universe, and respect and reverence creation and each other.

To understand and benefit from Fratelli tutti, I believe, requires an understanding of this background which shows the continuity of Pope Francis’ thought: Life is short and we are passing through at speed! Surely we can spend our brief time together appreciating the goodness of God, the beauty of creation, and the joy of sharing all that earth offers us as brothers and sisters! All the more so, believers, who are bound together in Christ as his mystical body, must witness to others, in all circumstances, a deep conviction of our common brotherhood and sisterhood as God’s children, each loved unconditionally.

Fratelli tutti, a phrase attributed to St. Francis, was offered to the world on his feast day, at Assisi, by Pope Francis, to emphasize the need to pull back from all the present divisiveness in our world and remember our call to brotherhood and sisterhood as the only way forward to a better, safer, more just future on this planet. He assesses the present state of affairs as essentially one of “a third world war fought piecemeal” (par 25). That’s a very serious claim, but on reading his reflections in Chapter One, it makes sad sense! He says “we are more alone than ever in an increasingly massified world that promotes individual interests and weakens the communitarian dimension of life” (par 12). In particular he sees a threat to young people who are losing a sense of history in this world of transnational economic activity, in which the powerful get more powerful and the weak get forgotten! In this world the systems appear to portray young people as having “no use for history, who spurn the spiritual and human riches from past generations, and are ignorant of everything that comes before them” (par 13). I share this concern and have expressed many times my conviction that younger people have come to accept that google is God, and, as it provides instant answers, they have no need to use their memories! This is very dangerous and leads to individuals determining their own subjective truths. This chapter highlights the consequences of such developments, and challenges us to return to a Gospel perspective which clearly calls us to “love one another, as I have loved you.”

In paragraphs 11-21, Pope Francis highlights the new dehumanizing of the political and economic systems which dominate our lives. He laments that “some parts of our human family, it appears, can be readily sacrificed for the sake of others considered worthy of a carefree existence” (par 18). In addition, he claims we “have grown indifferent to all kinds of wastefulness, starting with the waste of food, which is deplorable in the extreme” (par 18). Now we see the connection between this encyclical and the two previous ones! I suggest, even recommend, that the reader make a New Year’s resolution to read all three and use them as a meditation for 2021. Despite the negative tone in the first chapter of this letter, the message is one of hope! We must never forget that Christ has conquered the world!

In paragraphs 25-31, we are shown how our present worldview allows us to become indifferent to the struggles of others, even to remain unmoved by wars which remove “the human family’s innate vocation to brotherhood” (par 26). This calls to mind our own diocesan Strategic Plan which calls us to deepen our awareness of, and commitment to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. While the phrase might become a cliché if repeated too often, it is nonetheless vital to grasp that we have no choice, if we are to fulfill our Christian vocation, but to strive, in prayer and action, to be missionary disciples. Our church is always journeying outward to bring the joy of the Gospel to life in our world. Led by the Spirit, we can each play our part, in that believing as we must, if we take the gifts of the Spirit seriously, that the ripple effect of our small effort can and will awaken and make a difference, always, of course, leaving the final effect to God himself!  

From paragraphs 37-52, Pope Francis bemoans the world of pandemic, racism, the isolating impact of social media, and the flight of refugees and their rejection by developed countries. In particular, he strongly rejects, as contrary to the Gospel and our faith, anything which sets economic need above “the inalienable dignity of each human person regardless of origin, race or religion, and the supreme law of fraternal love” (par 39).

However, Chapter One finishes on a beautiful positive note, for Pope Francis is always a man of hope! Thus, this encyclical fits perfectly with our own Strategic Plan, which is also one of hope (Jeremiah 29:11-14). In paragraph 55, he invites “everyone to renewed hope, for hope ‘speaks to us of something deeply rooted in every human heart.’ Hope is bold; it can look beyond personal convenience, the petty securities and compensations which limit our horizons, and can open us up to grand ideals that make life more beautiful and worthwhile. Let us continue, then, to advance along the path of hope.” What a wonderful way to set out on the year 2021, as we see the vaccine that will temper the virus, which has turned lives upside down, offer us a chance to return to normal living. May the hope of Christ reign in our hearts as we thank God for all that is good and open our hearts to serve the God in each sister and brother! Happy New Year.

(Father P.J. Madden is a retired priest of the diocese currently serving as administrator of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church parish in Houma.)