Pope Francis refused to keep faith locked inside a Sunday box. Laudato Si’ compelled us to connect climate, consumerism, loneliness—to see the only true way forward: spiritual conversion. When I finally stopped hiding from my quarterly statements, I imagined Pope Francis himself opening the envelope. What would he see?
A letter that landed
In 2019 Francis wrote to “young economists and entrepreneurs.” He asked us to bring a soul to the economy of tomorrow. But how? He instructed us to build “workshops of hope.” I felt the stirring deep in my gut. What kind of workshop? Tens of thousands packed our bags for Assisi. COVID delayed the trip, but not the fire.
What the pilgrim‑pope teaches
- Live in a guesthouse, not a palace.
- Swap the papal limo for a compact car.
- Give prisoners, refugees, and Indigenous elders more face‑time.
- Name the sins of our extractive investing paradigm aloud; then listen long enough to learn the victims’ names.
- Open voting seats to women; invite the periphery into the room.
Leadership, as Francis showed, is strategy welded to proximity.
Economy of Francesco Meeting in Assisi 2022
From Assisi to my doorstep
Back home, friends and I asked, “What would a Francis‑shaped economy look like in the US?”
Imagine Francis sitting across the table, scanning our quarterly investment statements, gently asking, “Does this bring healing or harm?”
We launched the Francesco Collaborative—investors, asset managers, and everyday Catholics and dreamers who want capital that heals. Pilgrimages to Chiapas, Mondragón, the Amazon, and Rome sharpened the vision:
- Entrepreneurs reshaping the economy need capital not chained to maximum return.
- Investors aching for impact need trusted paths—and spiritual ballast—to unplug from Wall Street.
Our job is building that bridge.
Our conversations kept returning to a simple image: Pope Francis sitting across the table, scanning our quarterly investment statements, gently asking, “Does this bring healing or harm?
What I’m working on now
- A growing network of family offices and endowments are moving real dollars—beyond token amounts—into employee ownership and community wealth building.
- We’re piloting a new community‑based diligence process that asks about solidarity, and preferential option for the poor as much as team, operations, and projections.
- Catholic Sisters who led in community development finance are anchoring newer, bolder strategies.
The synod continues
Francis’s global Synod on Synodality keeps asking: Can the Church learn to listen before it leads? The same question hovers over our economy. We’re experimenting. Can we build governance that lets directly affected voices set the metric for success?
Guided by encounters with mentors like Sr. Laura Vicuna, I’ve learned to call Francis “Abuelo”—good grandparents make us braver.
He handed us the recipe: tell people what you’ve seen, what you believe.
Invite them into the hope, build the tools together.
An invitation you can’t ignore
If his critique has felt distant, let it sink in and get under your skin.
The movement is already here—and there’s work for you at the table.
Now, every time my quarterly statements arrive, I picture Francis at my shoulder, quietly reminding me that each investment holds within it a moral choice—and an invitation.