From Friedman to Prevost: Chicago’s unexpected evangelist
Pope Leo is advocating the fundamental principles of Catholic social teaching based on solidarity, dignity, and the common good
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam, Robert Francis Prevost, and everyone in St Peter’s Square erupted in joy.
Behind the proverbial white smoke lay a paradox: the new pope, Leo XIV, the advocate of the poor and marginalised, hails from Chicago, the epicentre of free market fundamentalism. The Chicago School of Economic Thought is associated with prominent economists like Milton Friedman and George Stigler, who popularised the concept of neoliberalism. They promoted ideological and policy frameworks that elevate the free market as a moral, personal and societal compass that examines and directs all human action.
The influence of the Chicago School’s focus on free markets has prevailed for decades, and influenced governments, turning capitalism into a mantra for creating wealth. The world has been taken over by capitalist dogma: even countries that were completely alien to the capitalist notion embraced capitalism as the only way they could grow their GDP.
While the Chicago School championed market efficiency, its legacy is complex: some policies empowered individuals, others entrenched inequality. However, as global economic dynamics evolve, recent shifts indicate a resurgence of state interventionism and protectionist policies, challenging the neoliberal consensus.
Recent developments, from Trump’s tariffs to the economic isolationism brought about by Brexit, reveal a troubling truth: neoliberalism possesses a dangerous flexibility that allows it to morph and persist, even in the face of significant challenges. This raises critical questions about the future of global economic policies and their implications for society at large.
The current state of affairs reveals a trend where nationalist power is wielded to safeguard corporate interests. This underscores a persistent issue within neoliberalism: the disturbing tendency to evaluate human life solely based on its market value.
Contrasting this economic paradigm, Pope Leo XIV is advocating the fundamental principles of Catholic social teaching based on solidarity, dignity and the common good. In one of his early addresses, Prevost explained the rationale behind his choice of the papal name: “…There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour.”
Therefore, the pope’s focus on social justice and the common good is pertinent as these challenges may aggravate inequality and damage societal cohesiveness.
A message of hope that people must come before profits- Claudio Farrugia
The development of modern Catholic social thought can be traced back to Rerum Novarum published in 1891. Many viewed this encyclical as seemingly implicit acknowledgement by Pope Leo XIII, without formal endorsement of capitalism as an antithesis of the looming communist threat. Rerum Novarum is not only this: it includes warnings and recommendations to business owners to pay fair wages. It also emphasises the significance of work and the freedom of employee associations.
Pope St John Paul II shed light on this aspect in an address in Latvia in 1993 where he stated: “Catholic social doctrine is not a surrogate for capitalism. In fact, although decisively condemning ‘socialism’, the Church, since Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, has always distanced itself from capitalistic ideology, holding it responsible for grave social injustices.”
Pope Leo XIV has already signalled he will challenge not just economic injustice but also the subtle moral logic that devalues human life when it no longer serves the productivity of the market. Catholic social teaching insists that every life has value, not because it is efficient, independent, or profitable, but because it is inherently dignified. People with disabilities and older people are often made to feel like a burden.
Chicago gave us the gospel of the market. Perhaps it is fitting that it now gives us a shepherd who, like his predecessor, the beloved Pope Francis, will bring a message of hope to us all that people must come before profits and self-interest.
Claudio FarrugiaClaudio Farrugia is a member of Catholic Voices Malta. He is writing in his personal capacity.