VATICAN CITY — Guaranteeing justice for all men and women is not possible while a few people control most of the world’s wealth and everyone else’s right to a dignified life is disregarded, Pope Francis said.
In a Nov. 30 video message, the pope encouraged judges from North and South America and Africa not to lose sight of “the distressing situation in which a small part of humanity lives in opulence, while an increasing number of people are denied dignity and their most elementary rights are ignored or violated.
“We cannot be disconnected from reality,” he said. “This is a reality you must keep in mind.”
The judges were taking part in a virtual meeting Nov. 30-Dec. 1 on “Building the New Social Justice.” The meeting was sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Committee of Pan-American Judges for Social Rights and Franciscan Doctrine.
At “such a critical time for all of humanity,” the Pope said, the virtual meeting to discuss the work of building “a new social justice is, without doubt, excellent news.”
