Solidarity and Catholic Social Thought: Confronting the Globalization of Indifference

Abstract

Pope Francis has introduced the idea of a “globalization of indifference” into Catholic social teaching. He imputes indifference to “people who close their hearts to the needs of others, who close their eyes to what is happening around them, who turn aside to avoid encountering other people’s problems.” The globalization of indifference has moved beyond personal indifference and has taken on broader dimensions, which is often manifested in structural sin that violates human dignity. This essay develops in three cumulative sections. First, it explains Pope Francis’s globalization of indifference and the threat this indifference poses to the call to discipleship and solidarity. Second, it defines the virtue of solidarity in its various dimensions. Finally, it explores the theological foundations of solidarity grounded in the biblical identification of God and God’s Christ with the poor and the Christian moral imperative to confront the globalization of indifference.|Keywords: common good, globalization of indifference, Pope Francis, solidarity, structural sin