FRANCIS, A POPE OF THE POOR? A POPE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT? OR A POPE OF THE GLOBAL ELITE?Part I
Published: June 6, 2022
by Matt Smyth, Professor at Strasbourg University – Religious Studies
Pope Francis. A pope of rupture. A pope for ecology. Inimical to capitalism, but compassionate to the poor and the migrant. The gay-friendly pope. Lenient with divorcees, but hostile to traditionalists and conservatives. The reformer of the corrupt Roman curia, the enemy of sexual abuse perpetrated by clerics… Or rather the pope of paradoxes? It is with Bayer-Monsanto and BP that Francis hopes to save the planet, with Bank of America as well as with Big Pharma’s own Merck and Johnson & Johnson that he fancies conjuring up an ethical capitalism. Would he be then more like the pope of a new marketing logic? As it happens, it is precisely in the name of defending the environment, inclusivity, equity or social justice, that the corporate ‘stakeholders’ of the global governance are trying to enforce their agenda — which is nothing less than converting the whole planet and every human dwelling on its surface into assets tradeable on the stock market.
Bergoglio, in that respect, is a case study. Following in the wake of Davos’ World Economic Forum (WEF), he has turned the Vatican into a spokesperson for the global governance. Meanwhile, the policymakers of this very governance, since they are no longer willing to exploit the consumerist lust for happiness of the masses, but would now rather bet on coercion, have wrought a new marketing strategy. They hide their old endless yearning for power behind a fresh storytelling: the need to part radically with individualistic, energy-intensive, neoliberal capitalism. The global elite is accumulating all the goods it is still short of, confiscating civil liberties and concentrating all the power in its own hands, however this coup is being staged within a new narrative of being concerned about climate change and biodiversity, dedicated to the common good, hostile to selfish individualism, and negative when it comes to the free market. Otherwise stated: communitarian. As a matter of fact, Francis’ message to the world epitomizes this new kind of ‘responsible capitalism’ PR. Down to every single catchword.
https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/82699/francis-a-pope-of-the-poor-a-pope-for-the-environment-or-a-pope-of-the.html