Pope to youth: After pandemic, build new economy inclusive of the poor

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is urging young economists, entrepreneurs, workers and business leaders to promote post-pandemic development models that involve the poor.

Francis in a videotaped message to a forum of young people in Assisi, Italy, on Saturday said the worse reaction after the COVID-19 pandemic would be to plunge into “feverish consumerism.” Instead, Francis says, the poor should be invited to participate in discussions aimed at creating what he says is an urgently needed “different economic narrative.”

The pope pressed young people to help change lifestyles and models of production and consumption to make them more sustainable.

He says it’s time to shun economic models focused immediately on profit.