The encyclical seeks to promote a worldwide aspiration to brotherhood and social friendship, based on the common belonging of all men to the human race, creatures of the same Creator.

Rome (October 5, 2020, Gaudium Press) — Pope Francis, has signed his third encyclical, “Fratelli tutti” (All Brothers). He has defined it as a social encyclical taking its title from the “Admonitions” of St. Francis of Assisi.  St Francis used those words “to address all the brothers and sisters, and propose to them a way of life with a taste of the Gospel”.

The encyclical aims to promote a worldwide aspiration to brotherhood and social friendship, based on the common belonging of all men to the human race, creatures of the same Creator.

The encyclical also takes into account the globalization and interconnectedness of the contemporary world, making the destinies of men ever more closely linked to one another.

This human brotherhood must take the form of “a better kind of politics”. Politics must be placed at the service of the common good, holding in its core the dignity of the person.

A policy that knows how to find solutions to violations of fundamental human rights, with a particular view to eliminating hunger and human trafficking.

Justice in the world is also achieved by promoting peace, not only understood as the absence of war; peace is linked to truth. A justice that continues to be achieved through dialogue, in the name of mutual development.

The global health emergency has served to demonstrate that “no one is saved alone” and that the time has come for us to “dream as one humanity,” in which we are “all brothers. The “virus of radical individualism” must be defeated. Francis exhorts us to “go out of ourselves” to find in others “growth of their being”, opening ourselves to our neighbours according to the dynamism of charity that makes us tend to “universal communion”.

The spiritual height of human life is measured by love. A love that is always “first” and moves us to seek the best for the other, far from all selfishness.

The Pope defines life as “the art of encounter” with everyone, since “something can be learned from everyone, no one is useless”. The media must collaborate in this encounter, promoting closeness and a sense of the human family.

With information from Vatican News