In a letter addressed to the participants in the joint spring meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Supreme Pontiff reflected on the crises generated in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic in the social, political, ecological and economic spheres.

In this sense, he predicted that ‘your discussions must contribute to a recovery model capable of generating new, more inclusive and sustainable solutions to support the real economy, assisting people and communities to realize their deepest aspirations and the universal common good’.

The pope also advocated in favor of creating new institutions or restoring existing ones to help build a new network of international relations to improve the integral human development of all peoples.

That necessarily means giving the poorest and least developed nations an effective part in the decision-making process by facilitating access to the international market, he pointed out.

A spirit of global solidarity also requires, at least, a significant reduction in the debt burden of the poorest nations, exacerbated by the pandemic, stressed the pontiff who also warned that the time has come to recognize that markets – particularly the financiers – are not self-governing.

In the Pope’s opinion, markets should be supported by laws and regulations that ensure their functioning for the common good, ensuring that finances, instead of being merely speculative or to finance themselves, work for the social objectives so necessary in the current global health emergency.

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