Stephan Rothlin

　　The pandemic of COVID-19, as painful and disastrous as it has been, may offer a wake-up call for many to become finally aware that the gap between the rich and the poor keeps opening: while on the one hand some of the richer countries are able to vaccinate several times their population, on the other hand, some countries only know for sure that a countless number of people will die because they did not even get the basic protection or were victims of irresponsible political decisions.

　　Right in the midst of this ongoing world drama we need to value the courageous initiative of Pope Francis for not giving into the mood of depression but for challenging different key actors and institutions of societies to systematically work out solutions for a change from an economic paradigm focused exclusively on profit maximization and abuse of resources, and towards a focus on sustainable wealth creation and wellbeing in view of the benefits to the larger society.