Pope: do not return to a 'normality' of injustice and environmental degradation

“We cannot expect the economic model that underlies unfair and unsustainable development to solve our problems. He did not and he will not ". The normality to which we are called is that of the Kingdom of God, where "the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are purified, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor are preached the Gospel" (Mt 11: 5).

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The "normality" to which they would like us to return "was sick with injustices, inequalities and environmental degradation" that the pandemic has laid bare. Injustices which, Pope Francis warns, “are neither natural nor inevitable. They are the work of man, they come from a growth model detached from the deepest values ​​". "For this reason, to emerge from the pandemic, we must find the cure not only for the coronavirus, which is important, but also for the great human and socioeconomic viruses".

Following the path indicated by Jesus to build a "solidarity and fair" society was the topic the Pope spoke about at today's general audience, held, as for some weeks now, in the San Damaso Courtyard, 500 people present . Francis spent over half an hour among them, greeting, blessing rosaries and images, signing photographs and books, exchanging a few words with some, joking with the children, agreeing to lend himself for selfies,

“A small virus continues to cause deep wounds and to expose our physical, social and spiritual vulnerabilities. It has laid bare the great inequality that reigns in the world: inequality of opportunity, inequality of goods, inequality of access to health care, inequality of technology,  education: millions of children cannot go to school, and so the list goes on. These injustices are neither natural nor inevitable. They are the work of man, they come from a model of growth detached from the deepest values. Food waste: with that waste one can feed others. And this has made many people lose hope and has increased uncertainty and anguish. That is why, to come out of the pandemic, we must find the cure not only for the coronavirus - which is important! - but also for the great human and socio-economic viruses. They must not be concealed or whitewashed so they cannot be seen. And certainly we cannot expect the economic model that underlies unfair and unsustainable development to solve our problems. It has not and will not, because it cannot do so, even though some false prophets continue to promise the “trickle-down” that never comes.".

Instead, we must remember, the Pope points out, that “we were conceived in the heart of God (cf. Eph 1,3-5). "Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary”.[1] Furthermore, every creature has something to say to us about God the creator (see Encyclical Laudato si’, 69, 239). Acknowledging this truth and giving thanks for the intimate bonds in our universal communion with all people and all creatures activates “generous care, full of tenderness” (ibid., 220). And it also helps us to recognise Christ present in our poor and suffering brothers and sisters, to encounter them and to listen to their cry and the cry of the earth that echoes it (see ibid., 49). Inwardly mobilised by these cries that demand of us another course (see ibid., 53), that demand we change, we will be able to contribute to the restoration of relations with our gifts and capacities (cf. ibid., 19). We will be able to regenerate society and not return to so-called “normality”,  which is an ailing normality, which was ailing before the pandemic: the pandemic highlighted it! “Now we return to normality”: no, this will not do, because this normality was sick with injustice, inequality and environmental degradation".

"We need to set to work urgently to generate good policies, to design systems of social organisation that reward participation, care and generosity, rather than indifference, exploitation and particular interests. We must go ahead with tenderness. A fair and equitable society is a healthier society. A participatory society - where the “last” are taken into account just like the “first” - strengthens communion. A society where diversity is respected is much more resistant to any kind of virus”.

"As disciples of Jesus, we have proposed to follow in His steps, opting for the poor, rethinking the use of material goods and taking care of our common home. In the midst of the pandemic that afflicts us, we have anchored ourselves to the principles of the social doctrine of the Church, letting ourselves be guided by faith, by hope and by charity. Here we have found solid help so as to be transformers who dream big, who are not stopped by the meanness that divides and hurts, but who encourage the generation of a new and better world". “Let us place this healing journey under the protection of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Health. May she, who carried Jesus in her womb, help us to be trustful. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, we can work together for the Kingdom of God that Christ inaugurated in this world by coming among us. It is a Kingdom of light in the midst of darkness, of justice in the midst of so many outrages, of joy in the midst of so much pain, of healing and of salvation in the midst of sickness and death, of tenderness in the midst of hatred. May God grant us to “viralise" love and to “globalise” hope in the light of faith.”

Finally, Francis said that today he signed the Apostolic Letter "Sacrae Scripturae affectus", on the 16th centenary of the death of Saint Jerome. "May the example of this great doctor and father of the Church, who put the Bible at the center of his life - he said - arouse in everyone a renewed love for Sacred Scripture and the desire to live in personal dialogue with the Word of God" .