Economy of Francesco Covenant - It is not a Utopia

Image: EFC Assisi

Source: Vatican News

Thousands of young economists and Pope Francis, have endorsed a Covenant to change the global economic system to better the lives of all people, at the end of the three-day Economy of Francesco event in Assisi.

Throughout the gathering, participants heard from economists, aid workers, human rights campaigners, entrepreneurs and environmentalists from around the world.

On Saturday, Pope Francis arrived and heard testimonies from Italy, Benin, Argentina, Thailand, Kenya, Afghanistan, Poland and Italy, before signing the following joint declaration:

Full text of the Covenant

We, young economists, entrepreneurs, and changemakers, called here to Assisi from every part of the world, aware of the responsibility that rests on our generation, commit ourselves today, individually and all collectively to spending our lives so that the economy of today and tomorrow becomes an economy of the Gospel, and therefore:

an economy of peace and not of war,
an economy that opposes the proliferation of arms, especially the most destructive,
an economy that cares for creation and does not misuse it,
an economy at the service of the human person, the family and life, respectful of every woman, man, and child, the elderly, and especially those most frail and vulnerable,
an economy where care replaces rejection and indifference,
an economy that leaves no one behind, in order to build a society in which the stones rejected by the dominant mentality become cornerstones,
an economy that recognizes and protects secure and dignified work for everyone,
an economy where finance is a friend and ally of the real economy and of labour and not against them,
an economy that values and safeguards the cultures and traditions of peoples, all living things and the natural resources of the Earth,
an economy that fights poverty in all its forms, reduces inequality and knows how to say with Jesus and Francis, "Blessed are the poor",
an economy guided by an ethics of the human person and open to transcendence,
an economy that creates wealth for all, that engenders joy and not just riches, because happiness that is not shared is incomplete.

We believe in this economy. It is not a utopia, because we are already building it. And some of us, on particularly bright mornings, have already glimpsed the beginning of the promised land.

Assisi, 24 September 2022

For more information see: https://francescoeconomy.org/