The world still needs social friendship

by Grant Tungay SJ

Viruses have been in the news lately. The Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recently confirmed an outbreak of Ebola in Ituri Province in the northeast of the country. While this has not yet become a global crisis, the World Health Organisation has described it as a public health emergency of international concern.

Closer to home, South Africa recently responded to cases of hantavirus contracted on board a cruise ship travelling from South America. Thanks to swift action by local authorities, the outbreak was contained. Yet it raises an unsettling question: are we prepared for another pandemic?

I fear the answer is no.

The greatest concern is not simply medical preparedness, but the lack of what Pope Francis called “social friendship.” In his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, written during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he argued that humanity must rediscover our shared dignity and learn to see one another again as brothers and sisters. Only then, he said, can we respond together to global crises.

COVID-19 revealed how difficult this is. It was painful to watch nations compete over vaccines and resist wider access to vaccine production. The pandemic exposed not only weaknesses in healthcare systems but also the limits of international solidarity. Under pressure, countries retreated into national self-interest. Have we learned from that experience?

Last year, the World Health Assembly adopted the Pandemic Agreement, a treaty intended to strengthen cooperation during future pandemics. Yet negotiations have stalled over one crucial issue: access to vaccines and the sharing of scientific information about dangerous pathogens. Once again, nations struggle to act together when shared responsibility is required.

Pandemics remind us that the world is deeply interconnected. The same is true of war. Conflicts should never be viewed as problems belonging only to distant countries. Their effects spread across borders through displacement, economic instability, fear and human suffering. At present, several devastating wars continue across the globe, and yet meaningful international cooperation remains painfully limited.

Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly called for dialogue, mediation and peace. He warns that the madness of war must end. Yet these appeals are often met with hostility and even sarcasm. That should concern us deeply.

COVID-19 was a global crisis that reminded us of our common humanity. It showed us how deeply connected our lives really are, and how vulnerable we become when nations fail to work together. Social friendship is not naïve optimism. It is the recognition that the well-being of one people is tied to the well-being of another. Without that recognition, we will struggle to face the crises that lie ahead.