Further signaling his acceptance of globalism during an age of increased nationalism, Pope Francis has now invited leaders to sign a “Global Pact” to create a “new humanism.”
“The global event, set to take place at the Vatican on May 14, 2020, is themed ‘Reinventing the Global Educational Alliance,'” reports LifeSiteNews. “The Pope is inviting representatives of the main religions, international organizations and various humanitarian institutions, as well as key figures from the world of politics, economics and academia, and prominent athletes, scientists and sociologists to sign a ‘Global Pact on Education’ so as to ‘hand on to younger generations a united and fraternal common home.'”
On September 12, the Holy Father said in a video message that “universal solidarity” can only be achieved by way of a “global education pact.”
LifeSiteNews noted that Pope Francis issued a “strikingly secular message” on the pact that contained just one reference to God and even echoed former First Lady Hillary Clinton’s favorite phrase: “It takes a village to raise a child.”
“This [Global Pact] will result in men and women who are open, responsible, prepared to listen, dialogue and reflect with others, and capable of weaving relationships with families, between generations, and with civil society, and thus to create a new humanism,” said Pope Francis.
The Pope added that an “alliance” must be formed “between the earth’s inhabitants and our ‘common home,’ which we are bound to care for and respect. An alliance that generates peace, justice and hospitality among all peoples of the human family, as well as dialogue between religions.”
The Pope’s invitation to a “Global Pact” echoes his recent declaration that the “common good has become global” while criticizing the nation-state for being unable to meet this human need. He, however, did not issue a call for a one-world government.
“In the current situation of globalization not only of the economy but also of technological and cultural exchanges, the nation-state is no longer able to procure the common good of its population alone,” Pope Francis told the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in May. “While, according to the principle of subsidiarity, individual nations must be given the power to operate as far as they can, on the other hand, groups of neighboring nations — as is already the case — can strengthen their cooperation by attributing the exercise of certain functions and services to intergovernmental institutions that manage their common interests.”
In what was seen as a veiled critique of the pope’s stance, Cardinal Raymond Burke later told Rome Life Forum that natural law permits patriotism “in accord with the order written upon the human heart” and “does not make just and legitimate a single global government.”
“Before the challenges of our time, there are those who propose and work for a single global government, that is, for the elimination of individual national governments, so that all of humanity would be under the control of a single political authority,” said Burke. “For those who are convinced that the only way to achieve the common good is the concentration of all government in a single authority, loyalty to one’s homeland or patriotism has become an evil.”