...Argentine liberation theologist, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He was elected pope in 2013. Rather than setting up shop in Avignon, where he belongs, the first Jesuit Pope chose to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse instead of the papal apartments. He is big on climate change, against consumerism, and in favor of throwing a blanket over homosexual activity within the clergy. He's not real sure about the Resurrection, about Christ's divinity, and a few other things that would have gotten him burned at the stake a few hundred years ago, but he's hot for a certain South American Earth Mother Goddess...has proposed a basic "universal wage" as a remedy for the economic hardships day laborers face during the "unbearable" coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
lockdowns.
In a Spanish-language letter to popular movements and community organizations, the pope underscored the difficult situation of many without regular, steady employment who are feeling the economic pinch of the lockdowns.
"I know that you have been excluded from the benefits of globalization," the pope wrote in his April 12 letter. "You don’t have access to those superficial pleasures that anesthetize so many consciences. Despite this, you always have to suffer their ill effects."
"The evils that afflict everyone hit you twice. Many of you live day-to-day without any legal guarantees to protect you," Francis said. "Street vendors, recyclers, carnival workers, small farmers, builders, seamstresses, caregivers of different types. As informal, independent or under-the-table workers you don’t have a stable wage to get you through this moment ... and the lockdowns become unbearable."
"Maybe the time has come to think about a universal wage that recognizes and dignifies the noble and irreplaceable tasks you perform, capable of guaranteeing and bringing to life this human and Christian slogan: no worker without rights," he said.
"My hope is that governments understand that technocratic paradigms (whether state-centered or market-driven) are not enough to address this crisis or the other great problems affecting humankind," the pope wrote. Now more than ever, persons, communities and peoples must be put at the center, united to heal, to care and to share.”