In the April edition of
produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, Pope Francis called for the rejection of all economic systems that exclude people and only prioritize results and profitability. Above all things, the Holy Father emphasized the importance of putting the dignity of the human person in first place, emphasizing the grave responsibility businessmen and politicians have in enacting policies that reflect that priority.“Let us raise our voices together, asking that economists may have the courage to reject an economy of exclusion and know how to open new paths,” Francis emphasized. “The economy cannot have as its only goal an increase of profitability, reducing the labor market and thus creating new excluded people,” he added.
The latest Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) suggests that the four fundamental policies to empower excluded people are: defending human rights, guaranteeing access to justice, fostering inclusion, and guaranteeing accountability. “The world has fewer than 15 years to achieve its bold agenda of leaving no one out,” emphasizes the director of the report, Selim Jahan, in the document’s prologue.
“The economy should follow the path of the businessmen, politicians, thinkers, and social actors who put the human person in first place and do everything possible to ensure that there be opportunities for dignified work,” the pope said.
This issue has been frequently addressed by the Holy Father during his pontificate. Last year on the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, Pope Francis said, “Do not be trapped in the vortex of pessimism, please! If each one does his or her part, if everyone always places the human person – not money – with his dignity at the center, if an attitude of solidarity and fraternal sharing inspired by the Gospel is strengthened, you will be able to leave behind the morass of a hard and difficult economic season of work.”
Fr. Frédéric Fornos, SJ, international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and of the Eucharistic Youth Movement, added to the Holy Father’s video message, “Our society, invaded by consumerism and by the creation of artificial necessities, puts us to sleep, distracts us, and often often makes us forget the enormous challenges that we are experiencing in the face of an ‘economy of exclusion and inequality’ (Evangelii Gaudium #53) which casts aside great numbers of people, leaving them without work, without horizons, and with no way out. What kind of society do we want? Behind the numbers and markets, there are people. Let us look for other possible paths.”
“As Pope Francis reminded us in ‘The Joy of the Gospel,’ authentic faith—which is never comfortable and individualistic—always entails a profound desire to change the world (Evangelii Gaudium #183). Let us pray and support those who try to think of and inaugurate new economic models that will be at the service of human life and will respect our ‘common home,'” he added.
The intentions are entrusted each month to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and The Pope Video is produced by La Machi Communication for Good Causes with the support of the Society of Jesus, IndigoMusic, GettyImagesLatam,Doppler Email Marketing and the collaboration of the Vatican Media. It also has Aleteia as a media partner. Since its launch in January of 2016, it has had more than 23 million views on its networks.
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And today we celebrate...