Pope Calls for Renewed Economic Doctrine for 2020 Meeting

Pope Francis has called in a letter for young economists from around the world to meet in the city of Assisi, Italy between March 26 and 28, 2020 to rethink a new economic doctrine for the world that goes beyond “differences of creed and nationality” and is inspired by “an ideal of fraternity attentive above all to the poor and excluded.”

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The aim of this event, dubbed “The Economy of Francis,” is to build and promote “a different kind of economy: one that brings life not death, one that is inclusive and not exclusive, humane and not dehumanizing, one that cares for the environment and does not despoil it,” the pope said in the letter, released by the Vatican on May 11.

The letter addressed to young economists and entrepreneurs, urges to “re-animate” world economy. Because of this, the pontiff said that there was no better place to inspire a new economy than in Assisi, “which has for centuries eloquently symbolized a humanism of fraternity.”

Meanwhile, the head of the Catholic Church, met with economists Robert Johnson, director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, and a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics Joseph Stiglitz discussed the need to promote on a global level, a “social economy” that “looks towards the future with the voice of young people in mind”.

Pope Francis is a powerful voice, as he leads 1.3 billion people. Through his six-year period as pontiff, Francis has critiqued capitalism saying it “gives a moral cloak to inequality,” has called for respect to other religions and has quoted Simon Bolivar calling for the "Great Homeland" and remembering that Latin America is no ones "backyard." 

This new push for a renewed economic doctrine might be resembling of the 1950s and 1960s Liberation Theology, that sparked many changes in the Christian faith, especially in Latin American. This was a synthesis of Christian theology and Marxist socio-economic ideologies that emphasize social concern and actions for the poor and the political liberation of oppressed peoples.

“We need to correct models of growth incapable of guaranteeing respect for the environment, openness to life, concern for the family, social equality, the dignity of workers and the rights of future generations,” Francis concluded.