On October 3, 2020, Pope Francis released his third encyclical titled, “Fratelli Tutti” or “All Brothers.” This is a signature encyclical not only of Francis’s papacy, but for the Catholic Church. During a pandemic, and when the world seems to be at a political, social, religious, and ecological tipping point, comes a papal encyclical on “fraternity” and “social friendship.” I am calling Fratelli Tutti Pope Francis’ love letter to the world. This is a very long and complex encyclical consisting of eight chapters and 287 paragraphs. The primary approach of my reflection is pastoral and is written to be preached as a Sunday homily. My objective is to introduce only the main teachings of the encyclical and draw out its implications.
I want to begin my reflection with an observation. I realize there are areas in our lives where the abnormal has become normal, and the normal, abnormal. For example, in our grocery stores, we can find almost every fruit and vegetable in every season. This is not normal. But our consumerism has made the abnormal, normal. Ecologically, and for the local populations from where these products are sourced, the cost is immense. But there is no going back to the normal because the abnormal is now normal. When we read Fratelli Tutti, we might have a similar experience. We have gotten so far away from the quintessential Catholic theology, Catholic worldview, and from Catholic Gospel ethic, that Fratelli Tutti may sound strange, or to use my description, abnormal. I have heard critics define Fratelli Tutti as edging on socialism, or even communism; that Fratelli Tutti is bereft of theological insights, and that it lacks continuity with traditional Catholic teaching. Unfortunately, it has become so normal for many Catholics to understand Catholicism from their political and ideological vantage points, that the normal Catholic social teaching sounds abnormal, and the abnormal is considered normal. I want to invite you to understand Fratelli Tutti as quintessential Catholic social teaching.
With this observation, I would like to lay out the basic tenets of Fratelli Tutti. I am doing so under three headings: the 'common good' at the center; the Gospel at the center; and, the human person at the center.
1) The Common Good at the Center
Pope Francis begins Fratelli Tutti with an assessment of the world. The assessment is comprehensive but unflattering. Pope Francis uses the word “common” rather frequently in the encylical, as in “our common home” in reference to care for creation, and “the common good” in reference to the care of all human persons. The standard by which he evaluates the global reality is through the lenses of “the common good.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines “common good” as, "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily" (CCC 1906). Thus, Fratelli Tutti says, “God has created all human being with equal rights, duties, and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sister” (FT, 5). And again, “When the dignity of the human person is respected, and his or her rights recognized and guaranteed, creativity and interdependence thrive, and the creativity of the human personality is released through actions that further the common good” (FT, 22). This is the opposite of societies where often a privileged few determine what is best for all, create laws and systems that serve their own ends, and create a morality that serves their vested interests.
Pope Francis’ focus is on the good of all peoples, particularly the large number of the powerless, those on the periphery, the ignored, and the forgotten of the world. He addresses the problems ranging from nationalism to the throwaway culture of a throwaway world, from populism to hunger and trafficking, from insufficient universal human rights to flawed globalization, from migration to the inability to carefully listen to each other. The basic thought in Pope Francis’ assessment is that the world has serious problems but that these problems are created on two levels: first, the lack of respect, rights, and dignity for all human persons and cultures; and second, the intentional and selfish exploitation of people, cultures, laws, technology, and systems by those who wield power and authority. This includes people with vested interest guided by their ideological preferences.
In spite of these dark clouds Pope Francis promises to take up and discuss many “new paths of hope” (FT, 54) for our “wounded world” (FT, 67). Pope Francis lays out a dream. He says, “Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all” (FT 8).
2) The Gospel at the Center
As is typical of Pope Francis, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is at the center Fratelli Tutti. In particular, he uses the parable of the Good Samaritan to propose a solution for the “wounded world.” Pope Francis gives numerous reasons for making the Good Samaritan the hero of his encyclical. It would be impossible to include them all here. However, let me point out a few.
First, Pope Francis says that this parable answers an age-old question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Jesus was asked a similar question thousands of years later: “And who is my neighbor?” The parable of the Good Samaritan and his love-centered action is the Pope’s answer to these questions (FT, 57). Second, the most valuable point of the story is that “the Samaritan became a neighbor to the wounded Judean. To do so, the Samaritan had to cross all cultural and historical barriers. Pope Francis says, “Jesus trusts in the best of the human spirit; with the parable [of the Good Samaritan], he encourages us to persevere in love, to restore the dignity of the suffering, and to build a society worthy of the name” (FT, 71).
And finally, as Pope Francis says, “This encounter of mercy between and Samaritan and a Jew is highly provocative; it leaves no room for ideological manipulation and challenges us to expand our frontiers. It gives a universal dimension to our call to love, one that transcends all prejudices, historical and cultural barriers, all petty interests” (FT, 83). So, in the end, Pope Francis calls for a “humanism inspired by faith” (FT, 86) as the foundation for a better world. Holding up the image of the Good Samaritan he invites us teach and preach about “the social meaning of existence, the fraternal dimension of spirituality, our conviction about the inalienable dignity of each person, and our reasons for loving and accepting all our brothers and sisters” (FT, 86).
3) The Human Person at the Center. I said in my previous point that Pope Francis proposes “faith, and the humanism it inspires” as the foundation for future action. In the strict sense, humanism proposes human solutions to human problems without any reference to God or religious beliefs. In fact, some critics of Pope Francis have labelled him a humanist in this atheistic sense. Yet, Pope Francis is not afraid to use the word humanism, because unlike atheistic humanism, Pope Francis bases his humanism on the Gospel and the example of Jesus Christ. For example, Jesus statement “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mk 2:28) puts the human person right at the center of his ministry. The Good Samaritan too could be called a humanist, in that, he disregarded all cultural, historical, and religious boundaries and put a wounded and helpless person in the center. It was an act of selfless and outgoing love.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan ends with Jesus saying to the lawyer, “Go and do likewise.” (FT, 81). Here I want to quote my most favorite quote from Fratelli Tutti: “All of us, as believers, need to recognize that love takes first place. Love must never be put at risk, and the greatest danger lies in failing to love” (FT, 92). Pope Francis says that it is love, Gospel love, “that impels us towards universal communion” (FT 95).
Reflecting on “Go and do likewise,” Pope Francis places a special responsibility on families as the “first place where the values of love and fraternity, togetherness and sharing, concern and care for other are lived out and handed on” (FT, 114). Pope Francis believes that such world cannot happen without the dialogue, which is accomplished through consensus building, mutual respect, and truthful discussions. Towards the same end, Pope Francis places great emphasis on “recovering kindness” (FT, 222-224). Kindness, as described by Paul in Gal 5:22, Pope Francis says, “opens new paths where hostility and conflict would burn all bridges” (FT 224).
However, there are three things that are essential if we want dialogue, and ultimately peace and reconciliation – truth, justice, and mercy. Here again, Pope Francis’ humanism comes to the fore. Peace would require, he says, “to place at the center of all political, social and economic activity the human person, who enjoys highest dignity, and respect for the common good” (232). To accomplish this, truth, justice, and mercy are uncompromisable.
In the very last chapter, Pope assigns a special role to religions. He believes that all religions, “based on their respect for each human person as a creature called to be a child of God, contribute significantly to building human fraternity and defending justice in society” (FT, 271). While religion can become a tool for violence and terrorism in hands of unconscionable people, he invites all religions to return to that which is basic to all faith traditions – “worship of God and love for our neighbor” (FT, 282).
In these words, Pope Francis finds the hope and the solution to the problems of our wounded world. Hope lies, as he lays out at the beginning, in rebuilding a society of “fraternity” and “social friendship” or, in “humanism inspired by faith” (FT, 86), and in love, truth, justice, and mercy.
In this way, in the name of God, in the name of innocent human life, in the name of the poor, destitute and marginalized, in the name of orphans, widows, and refugees, in the name of all victims of wars, persecutions, and injustice, in the name of the weak, those who live in fear, prisoners of war and those tortured in any part of the world, in the name of peoples who have lost their security, in the name of human fraternity, in the name of freedom, in the name of justice and mercy, in the name of persons of goodwill, and in the name of God, Pope Francis ends his masterpiece encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.
I would like to end with Pope Francis’ Ecumenical Christian Prayer that ends the Encyclical
O God, Trinity of love,
from the profound communion of your divine life,
pour out upon us a torrent of fraternal love.
Grant us the love reflected in the actions of Jesus,
in his family of Nazareth,
and in the early Christian community.
Grant that we Christians may live the Gospel,
discovering Christ in each human being,
recognizing him crucified
in the sufferings of the abandoned
and forgotten of our world,
and risen in each brother or sister
who makes a new start.
Come, Holy Spirit, show us your beauty,
reflected in all the peoples of the earth,
so that we may discover anew
that all are important and all are necessary,
different faces of the one humanity
that God so loves. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph