Dr Austen Ivereigh gave a livestream presentation of ‘Let us Dream: The Path to a Better Future’ by Pope Francis on Saturday 30th January 2021. Austen, biographer of Pope Francis, assisted the Pope in producing the book. He has written two books about Pope Francis: The Great Reformer and Wounded Shepherd.
Pope Francis sees the pandemic as a time of reckoning, a time of trial to discover the qualities of our heart. The book is arranged in three parts challenging us to see, to choose and to act. He speaks of a parallel pandemic brought by the ‘virus of indifference’. We need to redesign the economy with a new humanism and an ‘eruption of fraternity’. A ‘change of era’ is being brought about by environmental collapse, the global pandemic and the return of populisms.
Women in leadership promote a ‘culture of care’. We need a politics rooted in the real needs of people, and a ‘sober, humble lifestyle’ which ensures ‘land, lodging and labour’ for all.
For Austen Ivereigh Pope Francis is ‘the world’s spiritual director’ encouraging us to grasp the potential of the crisis.
