there is no true economy without spiritual capital

In Assisi, the Pope met with young people from around the world who participate in the “Economy of Francis” initiative. “I’m counting on you; don’t leave us alone!” “The pollution that kills is not only carbon dioxide, inequality also pollutes deadly.” “Without esteem for the poor, poverty cannot be combated.”

Assisi () – A new generation of economists, businessmen and people of good will is emerging who will dirty their hands to concretely change a sick economy. This is the horizon that Pope Francis marked today when he met in Assisi with hundreds of young people from all over the world on the occasion of the “Economy of Francesco” initiative. The meeting takes place three years after the pontiff’s letter inviting them to this challenge. And, as the days of Assisi have shown, a network has been fostered in which hundreds of experiences are shared that try to give life to an economy that really puts the person, relationships and care for the common home at the center .

In Assisi, Francis heard some of these experiences told by the young people themselves. One of the testimonies was that of Lilly, a 14-year-old Thai environmental activist. Her commitment made 70 of the main businesses in her country abandon the use of plastic bags. And then spoke Maryam, a teacher and women’s rights activist in Afghanistan, who was forced to flee due to the Taliban crackdown.

‘You were already dedicating yourself to creating a new economy,’ Pope Francis replied. But the letter ‘made you feel part of a worldwide community of young people who have the same vocation as you. And when a young person sees in another young person his own call, and then this experience is repeated with hundreds, thousands of other young people, then great things become possible, even hoping to change a huge and complex system like the world economy.”

And it is a task more urgent than ever. The pontiff recalled the many crises that young people have had to go through in recent years: the climate emergency, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and all the other wars. Like the young Saint Francis in the Assisi of his time, his contemporaries see clearly that “there is a common house that is collapsing.” But given this, “it is not enough to make up, we must question the development model.” The situation is such that we cannot wait for the next international summit: the earth is burning today, and it is today that we must change, at all levels.”

Francis asked young people to teach the world to “accept the universal ethical principle -which they do not like- that damage must be repaired: if we have grown up abusing the planet and the atmosphere, today we must also learn to make sacrifices in the styles of life that remain unsustainable”. Otherwise, it will be our children and grandchildren who foot the bill, a bill that is too high and unfair. Quick and decisive change is needed. I count on you! -he added-, Don’t leave us alone, and set an example!” In this sense, he cited the gesture of a 25-year-old who refused a job in an arms factory: “These are the heroes of today,” he commented .

He then pointed out how the challenge of sustainability is inseparable from other great current challenges. “While we try to save the planet,” the pontiff said, “we cannot neglect the men and women who suffer. The pollution that kills is not only carbon dioxide, inequality also fatally pollutes our planet.” He cited the unsustainability of relationships between people, the “famine of happiness” that consumerism falsely claims to fill with ever more sophisticated products. And all this – he reminded him – generates plagues such as the demographic winter, the slavery of women who are not allowed to work and be mothers, and suicides among young people, which are often hidden “.

But there is also “a spiritual unsustainability,” he added, “of our capitalism.” The first capital of any society is the spiritual, because it is what gives us the reasons to get up every day and go to work, and generates that joy of living that is also necessary for the economy. Our world is rapidly consuming this essential form of capital accumulated over centuries by religions, wisdom traditions, and popular piety. There is an urgent need to rebuild this essential spiritual heritage. Technology can do a lot: it teaches us the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ to do it: but it doesn’t tell us the ‘why’; and so our actions become sterile and do not fulfill life, not even economic life”.

And then – in the city of San Francisco – the Pope asked to create an economy that puts the poor at the center. “Without the esteem, the care, the love for each poor person, for each fragile and vulnerable person – from the conceived in the womb to the sick and disabled, passing through the elderly with difficulties – there is no Economy of Francis”. Recalling how the first market economy was born in Europe in the 13th century precisely in daily contact with the Franciscan friars, the Pope condemned a capitalism that “wants to help the poor but does not esteem them, does not understand the paradoxical beatitude: ‘happy are the poor “. We must not love misery,” he added, “but we must combat it, first of all creating work, decent work. But the Gospel tells us that without an esteem for the poor, poverty is not combated.”

The Pope concluded his speech with three indications for young people: first of all, “look at the world with the eyes of the poor“. “You will also improve the economy if you look at things from the perspective of the victims and the discarded.” And then, “Don’t forget about work!”: “Without decent and well-paid work, young people do not really become adults, inequalities increase. Sometimes you can survive without work, but you do not live well. Therefore, when creating goods and services, do not forget to create work, good employment, work for all”. Lastly, the dimension of the incarnation, without stopping at the conferences. “You will change the world of economics,” he explained, “if you also use your hands with your heart and head.” Ideas are necessary, they attract us a lot, especially when we are young, but they can become traps if they are not become “meat”, that is, into something concrete, into a daily commitment”.