ROMEI – Pope Francis on Monday urged governments to use the coronavirus crisis as a revolutionary opportunity to create a world that is more economical and environmentally just – and where basic health care is guaranteed for all.
Francis appealed in his annual foreign policy speech to ambassadors accredited by the Holy See, an appointment that was postponed two weeks after he had severe nerve pain that made standing and walking difficult made.
Francis called on the governments represented in the Apostolic Palace to contribute to global initiatives to provide vaccines to the poor and to use the pandemic to repair a sick economic model that exploits the poor and the earth.
Pope Francis delivers his blessing from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, on Sunday, February 7, 2021. (AP Photo / Gregorio Borgia)
“There is a need for a kind of new Copernican revolution that can put the economy at the service of men and women, not the other way around,” he said, referring to the 16th-century paradigm shift that declares the sun the center of the universe. the earth does not.
He said such a revolutionary new economy “is one that does not bring death, an inclusive and non-exclusive, human and non-dehumanizing life, one that cares for the environment and does not harm it.”
Francis has repeatedly called for the world to use the pandemic as an opportunity to re-imagine a global economy that values people and the planet highly, and one where brotherhood and solidarity lead human relationships rather than conflict and division.
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The 84-year-old Francis touched on these themes in his long speech, which was delivered in a larger reception hall than usual to give the 88 ambassadors who attended it greater social distance. In the end, Francis invites everyone but says he will not shake their hands and insists on keeping his distance. Francis was vaccinated against the virus.
In his speech, he called for basic health care to be provided to all. He noted that those on the margins of society and those working in the informal economy have been hit hardest by the pandemic, with the fewest social nets to survive it.
“Driven by desperation, many people have sought out other forms of income and are running the risk of exploiting them through illegal or forced labor, prostitution and various criminal activities, including human trafficking,” Francis warned.
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He said children had suffered an ‘educational catastrophe’ with closed schools, women were the victims of domestic abuse, the believers had been deprived of common worship and that all mankind was limited to close human contact.
“Along with vaccines, brotherhood and hope are, as it were, the medicine we need in today’s world,” he said.
In addition to the pandemic, Francis mentioned other areas of particular interest, beginning with the coup in Myanmar, which Francis visited in 2017. He called for the immediate release of political leaders as a sign of encouragement for a genuine dialogue aimed at the good. of the country. ‘
He called for a final end to the war in Syria, noting that the 20th anniversary of the year is 2021, and urged the international community to ‘address the causes of the conflict with honesty and courage and seek solutions’. He praised the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons, and the extension of the START treaty between the US and Russia.
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He also insisted on disarmament efforts to expand to conventional and chemical weapons.