Francis’ thoughts on economics go beyond Marx
while also opposing “the globalisation of indifference”. After Pope John Paul II took a stance favouring the capitalist West over the communist East, and after Benedict XVI’s model of “creative elites” was brought in, now comes the “swing to the left” and the focus on the social side of the Gospel from Pope Francis.
This brings to mind the modernising opening up that the Church went through with the transition from Pius XII to John XXIII.
“He has a form of liberation theology that replaces Marxism with Christian mercy”, explains the spokesperson for the Community of Sant’Egidio, Mario Marazziti, who then goes on to say, “Bergoglio places a central emphasis on change and the rights of those at the bottom, without which there is no human dignity. He calls for good politics which should correct the wrongs of globalised capitalism, playing a key role once again on the public stage in order not to allow a rampant opening up to the economy, individualised religion and corporate interests.
In short, this is a Pope who points an accusatory finger at the “gremlins of finance”. In his first papal trip, visiting Lampedusa, Bergoglio denounced the cruelty of those who “take socio-economic decisions hidden behind anonymity, thus opening the way to the tragedies of migration”.
This is a reform-based approach, which is being put into action through the financial balancing of the books and reorganising of the ecclesiastical structure of the Church, among other points.
As a matter of fact, Francis has set up commissions of experts to advise him on the most effective way of ridding the Vatican of its bureaucracy, creating more transparency in the area of economic activities and the APSA – Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, caught up in the Scarano and Vatileaks scandals.
This is a genuine ‘perestroika’ in the Curia, which was refined and distilled in the “Buenos Aires laboratory”, where the first Jesuit and South American pontiff in history received his training.
In Latin America, his battle has earned him the esteem of leaders of the human rights movement, such as Alicia de Oliveira, as well as the respect of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who in particular have been very tough on the Catholic hierarchy.
Bergoglio has never given in to the many leaders who have succeeded one another in Argentina, whether they be political or from the military. He shares the same political background as his predecessor, the Archbishop Emeritus of Buenos Aires, Antonio Quarracino, which is not too distant from the popular wing of the Peronists.
The biography of the Archbishop Emeritus reveals elements of empathy for the “revolution” that Bergoglio is carrying out at St. Peter’s.
Bergoglio graduated as a trained chemist, but then opted for the priesthood, entering the Villa Devoto seminary. As Archbishop of the Argentinian capital, he lived through the traumatic experience of the 2001 default, with the streets filled with the saucepan cacophony of the “cacerolas”.
At that time, he backed the Argentinians who protested against neoliberalist policies and who hit the streets in their millions beating their saucepans. That was the time of the Argentinian bankrupcy, and as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he openly criticised the choices of Nestor Kirchner, viewing them as being not up to solving the crisis, but rather seeing them as policies that would exacerbate the poverty that far too many Argentinians were mired in.
As soon as Cardinal Protodeacon Jean-Louis Touran announced the name of the new Pope to the world, the Argentinian media brought up once again the complicated relationship with the Kirchner family, and in particular the current President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her predecessor and husband, Nestor Carlos Kirchner. The newspapers Clarín and Nación particularly recalled the fact that Nestor Kirchner had labelled Bergoglio as the true face of the opposition”.
As an austere Jesuit with tamed habits, Bergoglio loved to go around his city by bus, dressed as a normal priest. At the age of 35, he had already reached the position of Provincial Father (head of the Jesuits of Argentina). During the horrendously challenging phase of the military dictatorship, Bergoglio took action to save priests and laypeople alike from torture. Before the conclave took place, people said of him, “just give him four years and he will change things”.
He has a very poor relationship with Menem and Duhalde and frosty relations with de la Rua, whom he met with on 12 December 2000 in order to warn of the risk of a popular uprising, which indeed took place a year later.
Relations are not much better with Kirchner, who did not attend the Mass in Casa Rosada Square, held to honour the death of Pope John Paul II in a packed cathedral.
On the other hand, Bergoglio has good relations with Luis D’Elia and the piquetero movement – one day he called the Ministry of the Interior in order to submit a complaint that the police were beating an unarmed woman.