YOGYAKARTA – On Sept. 3, Pope Francis will arrive in Jakarta for his two-week apostolic visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore. As the leader of the largest Christian denomination, Francis will meet and encourage faithful Catholics and engage in interfaith dialogues.

The Pontiff, who is also Vatican head of state and a global figure with moral authority, is also expected to promote justice and humanity in the shaping of the global order.

John Ikenberry of Princeton University wrote in International Affairs (2024) about three groupings in the global order: the Global West, the Global East and the Global South. The Global West is led by the United States and European countries, and the Global East by China and Russia. The Global South is non-western developing countries, including Indonesia, India, Brazil and others.

Ikenberry asserts that the emergence of these groupings is premised on the partial decline of American unipolarity and the ascendancy of China as a potential rival. The Global West and the Global East are creatively shaping the global order by promoting their rather divergent agendas.

While the Global West is keen on advancing liberal democracy, rules-based relations and American hegemony, the Global East is resisting the Western agenda by promoting equal sovereignty, the uniqueness of each country’s political system and development as the main human rights.

The two groupings are competing to extend their political clout in the Global South. The rivalry is fierce since both seek dominance and are interested in shaping the world order that best serves their national interests.

It is undeniable that the current order contains some serious defects and needs to be reformed as evidenced by the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and North-South gap issues. As a new emerging power, China’s development success is not only inspiring for numerous developing countries, but it is also an asset to advance its decision-making power in international affairs.

For this purpose, China has put considerable effort into shaping a global order that suits its interests. In 2017, President Xi Jinping before the United Nations General Assembly proposed the new paradigm of a community of shared future for mankind (CSFM). The concept of CSFM demonstrates China’s discontent with the current order and its desire to shape a world order that may accommodate its growing interests.

China’s proposal is meant to reform (if not alter) the current order firstly by identifying some underlying problems such as the US hegemon, the Cold War mentality and the zero-sum attitude. In contrast, China promotes multilateralism, international development and win-win solutions. In a nutshell, China proposes the world as a global community where the US is no longer a hegemon, and all states enjoy equal sovereignty.

Unsurprisingly, China’s proposal has attracted many Global South countries who crave a larger share of the modernization cake.

Pope Francis shares China’s discontent of the current world order. The Pontiff condemns the exploitation of less developed countries, the lack of international solidarity and uneven development.

In a statement during his 2015 Bolivia visit–which sounded like an echo of a neo-Marxist scholar named Immanuel Wallerstein–Francis said that poor countries should not be reduced to being providers of raw material and cheap labor for developed countries. The Pontiff urged world leaders to adopt coordinated measures to pursue peace and development that is “global and shared by all nations in every part of the world” as stated in his message to the head of the 2024 World Economic Forum.

He added that achieving common good is an objective that is beyond the reach of individual states. Therefore, he urged intergovernmental structures and international organizations to ensure the basic rights of all to participate in the development process.

Furthermore, in his Encyclical Letter Laudato si’, Francis not only called on everyone to take care of Mother Earth, but he also stated that human activities have contributed to environmental degradation.

In the realm of politics, Francis has appealed for an end to the production of weapons. He said the “insatiable greed” has fueled decades of continuing violence in underdeveloped countries. In June 2024 he called on Group of Seven (G7) leaders to ban the use of autonomous weapons.

Unlike China, Francis does not attribute certain countries’ attitudes to global injustice. In line with American theologian and political thinker Reinhold Niebuhr, Pope Francis attributes global issues to human sin. In his 2015 speech before the UN General Assembly, he identifies “selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity” as the root of the exclusion and marginalization of the weak.

However, in contrast to Niebuhr, Francis maintains his optimism that humans are capable of doing the right thing. Humanity includes all people, regardless of their background. As per papal tradition, he addresses his exhortation to build a better world to “all men and women of good will”.

In a nutshell, Pope Francis is an important figure who is shaping the world order. He has criticized the current order that does not accommodate the marginalized and perpetuates the gap of core-periphery states. Nevertheless, he has not put the blame solely on the Global West or called for an alternative order promoted by the Global East.

Francis believes that a humane global order is rooted in good moral character. Human sin is indeed the cause of global problems, but it does not have the final say.

Francis has confidence in humanity and a just global order that will be built through the cooperation of those of good will.

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