The Concept of Periphery in Pope Francis’ Discourse: A Religious Alternative to Globalization?

Abstract

Abstract:Since the beginning of his mandate, Pope Francis has used the concept of periphery as a metaphor of social marginality. However, the notion of periphery also seems to target the asymmetries generated by the liberal version of globalization. Pope Francis' narrative has to be read in the broader context of the relation between religions and globalization. That interaction is usually conceptualized in terms of religions capitalizing on global "vectors", such as new information and communication technologies, processes of political and institutional integration, shared cultural patterns, transnational phenomena and organizations. An alternative way to analyze the role of religions consists in considering them as agencies defending the perspective of a universal community, putting into question the national political boundaries and contesting the existing global order. Understood in those terms, the concept of periphery reveals to be a powerful rhetoric device, insofar as it suggests that it is possible to get a wider perspective of the current state of the world looking form the edge rather than from the center.

Mediatized Catholicism—Minority Voices and Religious Authority in the Digital Sphere

“…In this sense, it can be framed as an unofficial Catholic community at the margin of the mainstream-a peripheral minority operating on a network of websites, Facebook pages, twitter accounts, and the like. Periphery seems to be a crucial theme for the current Papacy, as Ferrara (2015) notes. Beyond the reference to country of origin as a geographical periphery, Pope Francis praises decentralized worldviews, claims the necessity of looking from the peripheries to gain perspective, and encourages visits to the peripheries.…”

‘The Pope’s own hand outstretched’: Holy See diplomacy as a hybrid mode of diplomatic agency

“…Our very situation in itself led us to share the destiny of the Iraqi people with all their sufferings, injustices and hopes’. 28 Filoni’s actions constituted a modality of practice and discourse of a Church of the margins as it is today attributed to Pope Francis’ conception of the Church ( Ferrara, 2015 ; Ivereigh, 2015 ) and its diplomatic service more broadly. In this regard, Filoni appears as an advocate of a cosmopolitan idea of world society.…”

Centra i peryferie jako rama analityczna i pojęciowa

“…), ale uwzględnia jeszcze zmianę sposobu patrzenia, "mentalne przemieszczenie się", czyli wybranie innego niż zawsze punktu widzenia. Jeśli zatem dotąd perspektywa centrów wobec peryferii była podstawą podejmowania decyzji, dokonywania ocen, to zdaniem papieża istotą zmiany będzie przyjęcie perspektywy peryferii [Ferrara 2015]. Po trzecie, religia sama w sobie może być opisana za pomocą kategorii centrów i peryferii [Casanova 1994].…”