St Francis and the economy: the seeds of social and fiscal responsibility

It is significant, for example, that within Franciscan thought of the late 13th century, the idea of ‘scarcity’ gradually came to be recognised as a key factor in determining the value of goods: an insight that was destined, many centuries later, to play a central role in the development of modern economic theory (G. Todeschini, Ricchezza Francescana, il Mulino, 2004) – although there is no shortage of opposing perspectives, both economic and meta-historical (A. Orain, La confisca del mondo. A History of the Capitalism of Finitude, Einaudi, 2026).

One of the most significant aspects of this contribution concerns the way in which the relationship with possessions and wealth is conceived.

Francis’s experience helped to establish a vision in which the ownership and use of goods are significant not only in the individual sphere, but also in relation to the needs of the community. Wealth thus takes on a social dimension, insofar as its use produces effects that transcend the position of those who possess it.

From this perspective, fraternity, concern for the least amongst us and care for Creation are different expressions of the same approach. Our relationship with material goods entails a responsibility that goes beyond the interests of those who possess them and which, according to concepts specific to contemporary thought, can also be projected into the future, taking into account the consequences that the economic choices of the present generation have on future generations.

It was in this area that St Francis sowed certain seeds which the subsequent development of the Church’s social doctrine would draw upon, and which, through that development, are of profound relevance to taxation today.

It is particularly in the most recent Magisterium that this legacy takes on specific significance in the field of taxation.

Pope Francis has devoted unparalleled attention to tax issues – as has already been noted in these columns – placing them within the broader context of solidarity, social justice, environmental protection and the common good.

In line with this approach, taxation should not merely serve to provide the resources needed to cover public expenditure; rather, it can and must contribute to the redistribution of wealth, the correction of economic and social imbalances, and the steering of behaviour towards objectives in the public interest.

It is no coincidence that, in his well-known 2022 address to a delegation from the Italian Revenue Agency, Pope Francis stated that ‘taxation, when it is fair, serves the common good’.

This approach is particularly evident in two areas.

On the one hand, in the criticism of tax havens, and of tax evasion in general, not least because of the effects that the removal of resources from the taxing powers of states has on the funding of public services and on the fair distribution of the tax burden. On the other hand, in the protection of the environment: in the Laudato sì, the ‘care for our common home’ brings to the fore responsibility for the consequences of economic choices on the environment and on future generations, in relation to which taxation can help to shape behaviour.

International taxation and environmental taxation are thus different manifestations of the same principle: decisions relating to the production, availability and use of wealth have consequences that go beyond the individual and affect the community as a whole, including in their intergenerational implications.

It is in this context that the connection with St Francis should be identified: not so much in his anticipation of concepts characteristic of modern taxation, but in the idea that one’s relationship with possessions and wealth entails a responsibility that goes beyond the individual and extends to the community.

Viewed in this light, the non-fiscal function of taxation takes on a clear role: as well as ensuring the revenue needed to finance public expenditure, taxation can and must contribute, in accordance with constitutional principles and limits, to the pursuit of economic, social and environmental objectives.

In the teachings of Leo XIV, this approach was immediately developed further. The Magnifica Humanitas, in the face of the transformations brought about by technological innovation and the new forms of concentration of wealth and economic power, explicitly refers to taxation, alongside social protection and industrial policies, as among the tools through which to address the imbalances generated by such processes.

Despite the radical differences in historical contexts, a continuity thus emerges in the fundamental question regarding the relationship between the economy, wealth and the common good.

Eight hundred years on, it would obviously be inappropriate to attribute to St Francis a view on taxation that he did not hold and could not have held. It is, however, possible to recognise that certain principles stemming from his experience have been progressively developed by the Church’s social teaching, to the point where, in the most recent Magisterium, they have taken on specific relevance in the field of taxation as well.

In the extraordinary nature of the saint whose eight-hundredth anniversary we are celebrating, even the economy and, indirectly, the tax system thus reflect the modernity of his teachings: St Francis did not speak of taxes, but he sowed seeds from which, eight centuries on, we continue to reap the benefits.

Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Law

Full Professor of Tax Law

Sacro Cuore Catholic University