Abstract

The article offers a constitutional law reading of some elements of the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti. On Fraternity and Social Solidarity, which Pope Francis issued in Assisi, on October 3 2020. The text is read in comparison with one of Pope Francis’ previous encyclical, Laudato si’ (2015) because the two documents are linked together by a common interest for the socio-ecological crisis faced by our globalized world. The article mainly focuses on three elements: the use of Human Rights language by Pope Francis whereby Human Rights are understood as linked to dignity and mainly considered in their social dimension; the complex notion of The People, which emerges from the Pope’s writings, which we argue is influenced by Latin-American culture – open, pluralist, and, contrary to what some have argued, anti-populist; finally, a constitutionally oriented reading of punitive law, which openly rejects current trends towards penal populism