... Its title is Fratelli Tutti, and it is a scathing description of laissez-faire capitalism and a meditation on the coronavirus pandemic that has swept across the globe. ...
Picking up on some of his favorite themes, Francis says the marketplace cannot resolve every problem and denounces what he describes as "this dogma of neo-liberal faith that resorts to the magic theories of spillover or trickle." ...
"Every brother or sister in need, when abandoned or ignored by the society in which I live, becomes an existential foreigner, even though born in the same country. They may be citizens with full rights, yet they are treated like foreigners in their own country. Racism is a virus that quickly mutates and, instead of disappearing, goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting."
The encyclical is a sharp critique of nationalism and populism. In one section, he warns against "unhealthy 'populism' when individuals are able to exploit politically a people's culture, under whatever ideological banner, for their own personal advantage or continuing grip on power." ...