Francisco spoke by video link to the World Meeting of Popular Movements, a grouping of grassroots organizations and social movements that draw attention to inequality in work, land ownership, health care and other social problems in the world in developing.
He called on industries such as mining and wood, “to stop destroying forests, wetlands and mountains, to stop polluting rivers and seas, to stop poisoning food and people.”
Francisco said that rich countries and financial institutions should cancel the debts of the poorest nations. Arms manufacturers and dealers should stop contributing “to those appalling geopolitical games that cost millions of displaced lives and millions of deaths.”
Tech giants should stop allowing hate speech, fake news, conspiracy theories and political manipulation, he noted, calling for a universal basic income and that countries consider shortening working hours so that more people can having a job.
“This system, with its relentless profit logic, is beyond human control. It is time to brake the locomotive, a runaway locomotive hurtling into the abyss. There is still time,” he said. “And so, I persist in my annoyance.”
He referred to the criticism he has received in the past, especially from conservatives in the American church, when he has issued similar appeals.
“It saddens me that some members of the Church are upset when we mention these guidelines that belong to the whole tradition of the Church,” he said, referring to the compendium of the social doctrine of the Church published by Pope John Paul II in 2004.
“But the Pope must not fail to mention this teaching, although it often annoys people, because what is at stake is not the Pope but the Gospel,” he said.