杏MAP导航

By Msgr. Kevin W. Irwin

In chapter twelve of his Confessions, St. Augustine recounts being in his garden in an agitated state, not to say personal turmoil. He writes about hearing the voice of a child say, 鈥淭ake and read.鈥� He picked up a bible and read a passage from the New Testament. He experienced an inner calm and deepened his resolve to dedicate himself to God. When you take up this encyclical, I urge you not just to 鈥渞ead鈥� it but to 鈥減ray鈥� it. In the opening lines of Fratelli tutti 杏MAP导航 Francis quotes his patron, who addressing his followers, 鈥減roposed to them a way of life marked by the flavor of the Gospel.鈥� I daresay it is that simple. But it is also enormously difficult.

A Way of Life

Fratelli tutti is not about making adjustments here and there to our personal and communal lives. Rather it is nothing less than about a way to reread and to live the Gospel for our times. What the pope writes is needed for us to survive not only the coronavirus pandemic (which is sparingly mentioned in a treatise far more wide ranging than even this death-dealing virus) but for the contemporary world to survive. It is that serious. It is that compelling. It is that demanding.

The pope calls this his second 鈥渟ocial encyclical.鈥� He wants to offer 鈥渁 new vision of fraternity and social friendship that will not remain on the level of words.鈥� In today鈥檚 parlance, he wants us to 鈥渨alk the walk,鈥� not just 鈥渢alk the talk.鈥� It is a primer on the Catholic Christian way of viewing life and living life in dialogue among all people of good will.

A Quintessential 杏MAP导航 Francis Document

杏MAP导航 Francis dedicates Fratelli tutti to his namesake, Francis of Assisi, at whose tomb he celebrated Mass the day before its publication date, the feast of St. Francis. The Vatican 鈥渞ollout鈥� of the encyclical at noon on the feast itself was marked by a prior meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin and the Muslim leader of a joint commission established after 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥� visit to Abu-Dhabi in February 2019. In 鈥淰atican-speak,鈥� this is a big deal.

Francis鈥� encyclical Laudato Si鈥� was also inspired by St. Francis. There, the pope acknowledges the influence of Patriarch Bartholomew on his thinking about care for creation. In Fratelli tutti, the pope acknowledges the influence of the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb from his trip to Abu Dabi. That modern popes travel is now a given. What they say and do on the trips, as well as the destinations themselves, reveal many things. The same is true of 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥� trip to a largely Muslim nation.

This encyclical is an invitation for all of us to broaden our perspective to view a 鈥渨orld without borders鈥� (nn. 3-8) and to view every single person on the planet, and yes the planet itself, as brother and sister. In particular, he pleads on behalf of the world鈥檚 poor on the margins of society, as well as the handicapped, the infirm and the elderly who often live on the margins but who ought to be at the center.

Conversion of Life

Fratelli tutti is a fulsome document written in an invitational style. Nevertheless, be prepared for an unremitting invitation to nothing less than a conversion of life in light of 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥� astute assessment of the brokenness and polarization of today鈥檚 world. This includes the scandal of rampant personal and institutional individualism and the need for religious bodies to come together in 鈥渇raternity and social friendship鈥� in order to witness to counter cultural values before the world. The Catholic characteristic and challenge鈥攖he common good鈥攊s cited and explored here in numerous ways.

Continuity and Contributions

Like almost all encyclicals, Fratelli tutti is thoroughly researched and documented. 杏MAP导航 Francis cites his immediate predecessors in the papacy for their teachings on many things, including the economy and the death penalty. These are not-so-subtle reminders that he did not invent these Catholic positions. He inherited and then applied them to today. Other sources range from Latin authors from the ancient world, to contemporary philosophers to a novelist to a playwright!

Where and Who Are We?

The first chapter of the encyclical is an enormously insightful 鈥渞ead鈥� on our situation in the world. It typifies the 鈥渟ee, judge, act鈥� method that the pope has employed in several documents. Spoiler alert: this is not an easy read. It is like a precise medical diagnosis, which then leads to treatment and as close to a cure as we, brothers and sisters all, can come.

Two Lenses on the World

Laudato Si鈥� and Fratelli tutti are not your typical papal encyclicals. They are both addressed to men and women of all faiths and places, not only Catholics or the hierarchy. They offer a way to look at our world and at life itself. They are not about in-house theological fine tuning. These encyclicals serve as lenses through which we look at everything鈥攜es, everything. The glasses are by no means rose colored. But both of the lenses are tinted with the virtue of hope, so necessary and so needed now.

Countercultural

In the first weeks when coronavirus was unleashed on an unsuspecting worldwide population, one political leader kept saying, 鈥渨e are in this together.鈥� That phrase could well be an additional subtitle to this text. 鈥淲e are in this together鈥� means raising up to be our best selves and being 鈥渢he good Samaritan鈥� to one another. Many welcomed the insight and challenge. Many resented it, defending themselves with 鈥淚,鈥� 鈥渕e,鈥� and 鈥渕y鈥� pronouns. Fratelli tutti is about the plural pronouns: 鈥渨e,鈥� 鈥渙ur,鈥� and 鈥渦s.鈥� We are in this together, all on our common home.

Fratelli tutti is a profound encyclical. It can change minds and hearts. It can be one avenue to do nothing less than 鈥渞enew the face of the earth.鈥� Take and pray.

© Paulist Press, used with permission.
Msgr Kevin Irwin is Ordinary Research Professor in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America,
in Washington, D.C.