The Economy of Pope Francis and Capitalist Investment: Critical Reflections and Transformative Perspectives

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Author(s): Isidore E. Agbokou (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Internationales et Politiques de l'académie de Paris, France)
Copyright: 2026
Pages: 34
Source title: Investigating Moral Capital in Value Creation
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Shahriar Sajib (University of Technology Sydney, Australia)
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3373-6043-0.ch008

Keywords: Business & Management / Business Science Reference / Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility / Corporate Social Responsibility

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Abstract

In a context of rising impact investment, development financialization, and the apparent moralization of global capitalism, this study examines the doctrinal, political, and performative scope of Pope Francis's economy. Rooted in the Church's social doctrine and amplified by Laudato Si' and Fratelli Tutti, it offers not a rival to capitalism, but an ethical compass centered on human dignity, gratuity, care for the vulnerable, and ecological conversion. It calls for radical discernment on the anthropological and spiritual foundations of economic choices. The analysis highlights tensions with current impact finance: short timeframes, obsession with measurability, instrumentalization of religious language, funding conditionality, and solvency-based selection of beneficiaries. Cases from blended finance, ESG, carbon markets, and investment forums show how capital absorbs ethical narratives without abandoning extractive logic.

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The Economy of Pope Francis and Capitalist Investment: Critical Reflections and Transformative Perspectives

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