Feast of St. Francis. The Pope publishes a third encyclical Fratelli Tutti, in Italian, "all brothers." It is a letter on human fraternity and social friendship. In a situation of pandemic and global ecological crisis, it is more important than ever to learn to live together. Pope Francis declares: "Without the fraternity that Jesus offered us, our efforts for a more just world run out of steam and even the best projects risk becoming soulless structures."
Of course, placing fraternity in the Word of Jesus, " the firstborn of many brothers " (Letter to the Romans, 8, 29) opens an infinite horizon, in space and time, in the depths of our existences, between us. Francis of Assisi was a living witness to this. Let us think of his meeting with Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmal. In the Canticle of the Creatures, he exalts the fraternity of all creatures, in all things and even " our sister death". He shows the foundation of the common house. Of this, he sketches the architecture, through systemic bonds of fraternity.
Here we recognize the thought of Laudato Si' of Pope Francis.
Laudato Si' has become a reference text on ecology. Published five years ago, it is " Act 1 of a call for a new civilization " wrote Edgar Morin at the time. Since then, we have moved into "integral ecology" mode.
In this perspective, other acts have been carried out that inspire the letter " All Brothers" published on the feast of St. Francis, acts that concern religious plurality as an expression of fraternity. Religious plurality is a call, in multiplicity and difference, to " enter together, as a single family, into an ark that can sail the stormy seas of the world: the ark of fraternity." These words of the Pope were pronounced in 2019, when the " Common Document on Human Fraternity" was signed with Ahmad Al-Tayyib, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, a prestigious institution of Sunni Islam. Al-Azhar and the Catholic Church ask that " this document become an object of research and reflection in all schools, universities and institutes," " in order to contribute to creating new generations that bring goodness and peace and defend everywhere the rights of the oppressed and the least."
Like the dove, peace needs wings to take flight and be supported " the wings of education and justice " according to Pope Francis: "Fraternal coexistence is based on education, justice and development" (February 4, 2019, Speech of Pope Francis at the interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi).
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