“Dear friends, I am writing to invite you to take part in an initiative very close to my heart. An event that will allow me to encounter young men and women studying economics and interested in a different kind of economy: one that brings life, not death; one that is inclusive and not exclusive; humane and not dehumanizing; one that cares for the environment and does not despoil it. This is an event that will help bring us together and allow us to meet one another and, eventually, enter into a ‘covenant’ to change today’s economy and to give soul to the economy of tomorrow.” These were the opening statements of the Holy Father’s letter addressed to young economists and entrepreneurs worldwide in May 2019.
With much enthusiasm and immediacy, young economists, change-makers, and young entrepreneurs rendezvoused online in Assisi in November 2020 at the peak of the COVID-19 crisis. There we understood that it was not just an event but a process as the sanitary crisis turned the first two years of action into a continuous long-distance work. It wasn’t only changing the economic system, but our view of economic actors from homo oeconomicus to homo reciprocans, capable of incorporating human values along with economic development.
The invitation became a reality on September 22-24, 2022, as we moved out from our computer screens and finally reinforced our friendships with warm embraces. A fraternal gesture among one thousand young people from five continents who arrived in Assisi, the city of Saint Francis, where the Pontiff spurred those present to continue the path taken. We put our commitment in black and white through a synthesis arising from the work done in the twelve thematic ‘villages.’ We are aware that each of us has a unique role to play, a story to tell, a challenge to share with others, a concrete action to offer, and a dream to realize. But one of the most beautiful things this encounter brought us is the fact that, being called by the same desire to make this world a better place for everyone, we are no longer acting fragmentally but collectively. Indeed, the humane economy has a face, and that is one of communion.
“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.” These are the concluding lines of the document that does not contain new economic or organizational paradigms, but simply indicates the goals to be achieved. It is the first step toward challenging the current development pattern and proposing a path toward multidimensional sustainability, capable of considering not only the economic but also the environmental, social, relational, and spiritual spheres.
Young people are fragile because they have a “lack of spiritual capital,” which is an “invisible but more real capital than financial and technological capital.” The Pope affirms that “technology can do a lot,” because it says what and how to do, but it does not say “why,” and so “our actions become sterile and do not fill life, nor economic life.” Pope Francis denounces the “spiritual unsustainability” that exists in capitalism. For the Pope, “the first capital of any society is spiritual capital, because it is what gives us the reasons to get up every day and go to work, and it generates that joy of living that is also necessary for the economy.” But our world “is rapidly consuming this essential form of capital accumulated over the centuries by religions, sapiential traditions, and popular piety. And so, especially young people, suffer from this lack of meaning; often faced with the pain and uncertainties of life, they find themselves with a soul depleted of spiritual resources to process suffering, frustrations, disappointments, and mourning.”
Pope Francis then invites us to dwell in the Gospel paradoxes, leaving three pointers: to look at the world through the eyes of the poorest; “from the perspective of the victims and the discarded”; not to forget workers, because “without worthy and well-paid work, young people do not truly become adults, inequalities increase. Sometimes one can survive without work, but one does not live well”; and “incarnation,” because “at crucial moments in history, those who were able to leave a good imprint did so because they translated ideals, desires and values into concrete works. In addition to writing and making congresses, these men and women gave birth to schools and universities, banks, unions, cooperatives, and institutions.”
Two years ago, the encounter in Assisi began with a sincere invitation from the Holy Father to “pause” and concluded with a Pact we signed with him, and from there, we moved forward. We returned to where we were before, but we were not the same anymore. With great courage and determination, we continue to ask for the graces through this prayer with which Holy Father blessed us:
“Father, we ask forgiveness for having damaged the earth, for not having respected indigenous cultures, for not having valued and loved the poorest of the poor, for having created wealth without communion. Living God, who with your Spirit have inspired the hearts, hands and minds of these young people and sent them on the way to a promised land, look kindly on their generosity, love and desire to spend their lives for a great ideal. Bless them, Father, in their undertakings, studies, and dreams; accompany them in their difficulties and sufferings, and help them transform their difficulties and sufferings into virtue and wisdom. Support their longing for the good and for life, lift them up when facing disappointments due to bad examples; do not let them become discouraged, but instead, may they continue on their path. You, whose only begotten Son became a carpenter, grant them the joy of transforming the world with love, ingenuity, and hands. Amen.”
Aiza Asi
