Discussion Guide to “Fratelli Tutti” Our World Seems Increasingly Divided — on Social, Economic and Political Lines

DISCUSSION GUIDE

Discussion Guide to “Fratelli Tutti” Our world seems increasingly divided — on social, economic and political lines. In his recent encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti,” Pope Francis calls Catholics to break down these barriers through reconciliation and genuine encounter. This dialogue resource is designed to help.

MIGRATION A Failure to Respect Human Dignity on the Borders

Reflect: What aspects of life are open to you because of who you are, where you live, your family, your ethnicity, your socioeconomic status, your gender, your sexual orientation? What aspects of life have been closed off to you because of these factors?

Read: Read paragraphs 37 through 41 from “Fratelli Tutti” (bit.ly/3k8VCeZ).

Discuss: 1. When I put up a wall, I am left without a horizon. What and who am I not seeing? 2. Have you experienced or witnessed “local narcissism” on a local, regional or national level? How does this narcissism relate to migration? 3. How is empathy different from sympathy? How does empathy create solidarity? 4. How can the story of the Good Samaritan shed light on our immigration system? Can we understand the migrant as the man on the side of the road? Who are we in this story?

Take Action: 1. Learn more about the U.S. immigration system: • Why Legal Immigration Is Almost Impossible: bit.ly/2PME3rR • U.S. Asylum Policies: bit.ly/3rrwG72 2. Write a letter or postcard to your Congressperson advocating for immigration reform: bit.ly/3ru5cOj

THE DEATH PENALTY An Unequal System Under the Law

Reflect: Does forgiveness mean forgetting? How does justice differ from vengeance? Have you ever wished someone ill out of anger?

Read: Read paragraphs 263 through 270 from “Fratelli Tutti” (bit.ly/3k8VCeZ).

Discuss: 1. How can the story of the Good Samaritan shed light on our criminal justice system? Can we understand those in prison as the man on the side of the road? 2. How does fear perpetuate injustices in our criminal justice system? 3. The Gospel tells us to forgive “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22). How can we extend this mercy to those in prison and on death row? 4. Reflect on this quote: “I will give everyone the possibility of sharing this planet with me, despite all our differences.” What steps can we take to ensure all people can share this planet?

Take Action: 1. Write a letter to someone incarcerated on death row. You can use a service like WriteAPrisoner.com (link). 2. Research capital punishment: • Find out whether your state or country practices capital punishment: bit.ly/2MWtAsK • Racial and Economic Inequities in the Death Penalty: bit.ly/2Oe3GkL • The Injustices of Capital Punishment with Bryan Stevenson: bit.ly/3sYIYUJ 3. Write a letter to your federal representative calling for the abolition of capital punishment at the federal level: bit.ly/2OBuMSF

ECONOMIC JUSTICE: Envisaging and Engendering an Open World

Reflect: Imagine your life 20 years from now. How did you get there? What personal, family and social structures have to be in place for you to get to this place?

Read: Read paragraphs 121 through 127 from “Fratelli Tutti” (bit.ly/3k8VCeZ).

Discuss: 1. Examine the colonial history of political interference that exploited both human and natural resources. How do current political and economic issues stem from this past? 2. Do we still benefit from the exploitation of another nation’s human and natural resources? 3. Who is the injured man alongside the road? Who is the robber and what did he take? 4. Who is the person/ are the persons who stop to help? What change can your country enact to be the innkeeper?

Take Action: 1. Research globalization and exploitive economies: • Global Stratification and Poverty: bit.ly/3cba8kB • Global Economic Inequality: bit.ly/30kEvzE 2. Choose a country in the Global South. Research economic outcomes for a child born in that country and compare them to standards in the U.S. (education, earning power, political stability, health and life expectancy, etc.). Make an infographic demonstrating the differences.

RECONCILIATION: The Value and Meaning of Forgiveness

Reflect: What does it mean to “feel at home?” Describe a moment when you felt at home and when you experienced the opposite.

Reflect on a moment when you felt the need to be forgiven or were asked for forgiveness. What hurt, disappointment or injustice comes to mind? How did you address these feelings at the time? How would you address them now?

Read: Read paragraphs 236 through 254 from “Fratelli Tutti” (bit.ly/3k8VCeZ).

Discuss: 1. Why can’t we just forgive and forget—like the saying goes? 2. Reflect on this quote: “When conflicts are not resolved but kept hidden or buried in the past, silence can lead to complicity in grave misdeeds and sins.” Can this dynamic be found in our society today in the reality of systemic racism? How so? 3. Reflect on this quote: “We should never confine others to what they may have said or done, but value them for the promise that they embody [212].” How can we use this perspective in reconciliation? 4. Building social friendship calls for “rapprochement between groups who took different sides at some troubled period of history.” In our society who are these groups then and now? 5. What does reconciliation between the “haves” and “have nots” in our society look like?

Take Action: 1. Write a penitential prayer that seeks forgiveness for ongoing injustice in your community, society, nation, world. Find examples here: bit.ly/38lvoTF

GLOBAL POLITICS: Populism and Liberalism

Reflect: If someone were to ask you, “To what people do you belong?” How would you answer?

Imagine yourself as the CEO of a successful business. What does “successful” mean to you in this context?

Read: Read paragraphs 155 through 169 from “Fratelli Tutti” (bit.ly/3k8VCeZ).

Discuss: 1. Explain how the phrase “We the People” is understood in our society today. Are there people left out of the “We the People?” 2. “Only the privileged can ignore political realities.” What does Pope Francis mean? 3. What is the evidence of a healthy populism? Of an unhealthy populism? Which is evident in your area, region, nation? 4. How does unemployment fuel unhealthy populism and employment stifle it? 5. How has the COVID pandemic demonstrated the need for worker rights? 6. “Work is an essential dimension of social life.” What does this mean? 7. The economic “cup” only enlarges, it doesn’t spill over. Explain.

Take Action: 1. A national or federal budget is a moral statement. Research the top five expenditures in your national budget. What does it say about who and what are valued?

About the Authors:

This resource was authored and created by Marianne Gallagher and Cappy Russell, with support from the Jesuit Conference. A web-based version of the resource can be found at: bit.ly/3kPxTme