In recent decades, a novel right-wing nationalist and populist tendency has emerged on a global scale, frequently framing Christian identity as one of its central pillars. This article explores the relationship between right-wing populism and Christianity, by addressing how populism considers the role of religion on the one hand, and how Christianity position itself in relation to populism on the other hand, with a specific focus on Pope Francis’s social thought.
Although the relationship between right-wing populism and Christianity appears to be ambivalent, the response of Pope Francis, as elaborated in the encyclical Fratelli Tutti, is not. In the section entitled “A Better Kind of Politics,” the distinction between the “popular” and “populist leader” is employed as a hermeneutical tool to investigate current political developments. Furthermore, it enables us to respond to the allegation that Francis himself could be considered a populist, as some claim, referring to his alleged affinities with the political culture associated with Peronism. In his interpretation of the notion of political love as delineated in Fratelli Tutti, Francis leaves us with a legacy regarding the ethical response of Christians to populism, promoting instead a “culture of encounter” and a “better kind of politics.”
The authors: Valerio Aversano, KU Leuven and Ellen Van Stichel, KU Leuven