Pope Francis dreams of post-coronavirus world
ROME, April 21, (AP): Pope Francis is urging the faithful to use the coronavirus pandemic’s “time of trial” to prepare for a future where inequalities are abolished and the poorest are no longer left behind.
“This is not some ideology,” Francis said. “It is Christianity.”
Francis traveled a few blocks outside the Vatican walls on Sunday to celebrate Mass at a nearby church to mark a special feast day dedicated to mercy. Only a few priests were in the pews given Italy’s strict virus lockdown.
While people infected with the coronavirus often experience mild or moderate symptoms, possible complications like pneumonia can put their lives at risk. In his homily, Francis said the grave, global toll of the pandemic has reminded the world that there are no borders between those who suffer, no differences in nationalities among those who are struck or spared.
“We are all frail, all equal, all precious,” he said.
“May we be profoundly shaken by what is happening all around us,” he said from the altar of the Santo Spirito church. “The time has come to eliminate inequalities, to heal the injustice that is undermining the health of the entire human family!”
Francis has been using his daily livestreamed Masses in the Vatican hotel where he lives to single out a particular group of people for prayers during the pandemic: the elderly, doctors and nurses, prisoners and those with disabilities.
On Sunday, he delivered a broader message about inequality and the need for a post-virus world to rethink its priorities. It’s a theme that echoes the prepandemic preaching of the world’s first Latin American pope, who has constantly demanded greater solidarity among rich and poor.
In recent days, Francis has proposed the creation of a universal basic wage to help those who have lost their jobs as a result of the virus economic shutdown to survive. On Sunday, he said there is a grave risk that while COVID-19 might eventually be tamed, the virus of “selfishness indifference” could take its place.
To combat that risk, he said: “Let us welcome this time of trial as an opportunity to prepare for our collective future. Because without an all-embracing vision, there will be no future for anyone.”
Meanwhile, the Vatican replaced the director of its financial watchdog agency, completing a coup that began in October with controversial police raids on the watchdog offices and an investigation into a London real estate deal.
The Vatican secretary of state named a Bank of Italy official, Giuseppe Schlitzer, to head the day-today operations of the Financial Information Authority, known by its Italian acronym AIF. Schlitzer replaces Tommaso di Ruzza, who was suspended as part of the investigation. Seven months after the raids, neither di Ruzza nor anyone else has been charged. The delay and gaps in the prosecutors’ case suggest the investigation was sparked by a Vatican turf war over fears that AIF was being too aggressive in rooting out financial malfeasance that could have implicated highranking Vatican officials.
In addition to di Ruzza’s removal, Pope Francis decided in November not to renew the mandate of AIF’s president, Rene Bruelhart. Half the AIF board resigned to protest their treatment, and the board as a whole issued a statement defending their integrity and that of their investigations.
The raids and the scandal over the replacement of AIF’s leadership has raised questions once again about the Vatican’s murky finances and Francis’ failure to truly reform them. The pope was elected on a mandate of reform, after the Holy See worked for a decade to erase its reputation as a financial pariah and offshore tax haven.
Much of that effort was spearheaded by di Ruzza, who helped rewrite the Vatican’s anti-money laundering laws and helped manage the Vatican’s relations with the Council of Europe’s Moneyval evaluators. Under di Ruzza and Bruelhart’s leadership, the Vatican secured agreements with more than 60 nations to exchange financial information in the fight against money laundering and tax evasion.
In a statement to The Associated Press, di Ruzza thanked the pope for having given him the chance to serve the Holy See.