The arrival of Pope Francis in Marseille raises reflections that may seem far from the Catholic faith or Christian values. They relate to the political, and even economic, orientation of the Supreme Head of the Roman Catholic Church. Estne Pontifex cornu sinistrum or, in French, is the Pope left-wing? Is he a right-wing conservative or a left-wing progressive?
For the Holy Father, who is Argentine, this notion may seem anecdotal. But his path, which ran along the current of “people’s theology” close to “liberation theology,” gave him a political sensitivity that he never denied.
A “slightly melenconistic” Pope?
This question has been asked for years. His claim is simple, and the answer is even simpler: Pope Francis is undeniably left-wing. His social positions, on immigration issues or in his geopolitical vision, bring him even closer to LFI than to more moderate left-wing parties.
Even Jean-Luc Mélenchon admitted as much, revealing in 2017 that he was “the only French left-wing politician who reads all the encyclicals.”
The political-economic positions of the Pope are even shown publicly in two explicit texts: the apostolic exhortation evangelii gaudium and the social encyclical Laudato yes‘. In the first, he clearly exposes his social thinking, denouncing “an economy of exclusion”, “the new idolatry of money”, “money that governs instead of serving”, “the social disparity that generates violence.”
The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor
in the encyclical Laudato yes‘, Pope Francis establishes a parallel between the environmental crisis and the social crisis that, according to him, cannot be studied independently. He believes that “the human environment and the natural environment are deteriorating together.”
This position clearly alludes to the migratory crisis and its arrival in Marseille – and “not in France” the Vatican describes, posing a “Mediterranean problem” – clearly announces a message to the West for the reception of immigrants. This statement is so predictable that it has already provoked reactions on the right and the extreme right, such as in France, Italy and Hungary.
“MEDEF couldn’t have said it better”
But if Pope Francis is left-wing, what is his position against the bosses? To find out, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, former director of Medef, tried to invite him last July to LaRef, Medef’s summer university.
The Pope could not come, but he sent an unexpected message to the French employers.
“What was my surprise when I received the Holy Father’s letter ‘to the businessmen of France’ and especially the first sentence: ‘when I think of business leaders, the first word that comes to mind is common good’ and furthermore ‘ You are an essential engine of wealth, prosperity and public happiness,'” reveals the former boss chief, arguing that “MEDEF could not have said it better.”
By being close to the weak and the powerful, Pope Francis is only applying the social doctrine of the Church. He shows his desire to reconcile those who make profits and those who benefit from them. Create more wealth to share it better. What if the Pope was neither a Melenconist nor a capitalist, but simply a Rocardian?
Source: BFM TV
