Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for August: For political leaders – Let us pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and the common good, taking caring of those who have lost their jobs and giving priority to the poor.
The key phrase in Pope Francis’ prayer is his wish that our Prime Minister, ministers, members of Parliament and members of the public service should ‘be at the service of their own people’. This is a large ask. It means that all these people should look beyond their own ambitions and political interests, beyond opinion polls and media storms, beyond winning the next election, beyond the financial interests of their donors and sponsors, beyond their own career and reputation, and focus single-mindedly on the good of all the people in their nation. That kind of vision and service of the people are rare. Too often, political leaders’ ‘own people’ are the privileged, their supporters, and in passing the people whose votes they target.
Pope Francis spells out the implications of being at the service of the people when he insists that political leaders should work for ‘integral human development and the common good’. These big words sum up years of reflection by many Popes. We can understand them more clearly if we think of the alternatives that governments often seek. Almost all political leaders set out to encourage development that builds on the present situation and improves it. For many leaders, however, the improvement they seek is only economic growth, even if it makes the rich richer and the poor poorer, builds resentment, and weakens public services that provide health, aged care, education and welfare. That is why Pope Francis calls for human development. He looks beyond the growth of the economy to improvement in the things that matter in human lives – health, education, shelter, sharing in decisions that affect us, freedom from fear, from discrimination and so on. In his vision, the economy must serve people, not people the economy.
Pope Francis also speaks of integral human development. The word ‘integral’ invites us to focus on the balance between different human needs, instead of looking at them in isolation from one another. Integral development respects all the relationships involved in good human lives. We can test this balance if we reflect on the different responsibilities of ministers in Cabinet and on the priority the Government gives to them. If the arts, issues central to women, Indigenous affairs and welfare were bundled together under a junior minister, for example, we could conclude that the Government does not seek integral human development but a narrow and imbalanced development.
Finally, Pope Francis’ prayer urges our leaders to pursue the common good. This phrase, too, reflects many years of experience and of reflection on crises within society. To focus on the common good takes us beyond the sectional interests of such different groups as employers, investors, workers and particular ethnic or religious groups. It calls us to seek the good of each person in society in a way that takes account of the relationships on which their welfare depends.
In practice, seeking the common good means paying special attention to the people who are doing it hard in society. These include people who are aged, mentally and physically ill and are disadvantaged by lack of education and employment. Pope Francis prays especially for groups of people who are suffering harm in today’s economies. He mentions those who have lost their jobs, and more generally, the poor. They are always the canaries in the mine that identify the failings of a society. They also call for generosity in pursuing the common good.
Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ writes for Jesuit Communications and Jesuit Social Services.