Pope Francis on Sunday advocated for a form of universal basic income that would "dignify the noble, essential tasks" carried out by street vendors, small farmers, construction workers and caregivers around the world.

The message turned heads in the U.S., coming just weeks after lawmakers finalized a plan to distribute direct cash transfers to many Americans – and just months after entrepreneur Andrew Yang made waves in the Democratic presidential primaries on a policy platform based around the adoption of a universal basic income.

"Game-changing," Yang tweeted of the Pope's suggestion.

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In a letter written from Vatican City on Sunday, the head of the Catholic Church reflected on the "great anxiety and hardship" the world faces as it battles the coronavirus pandemic. Acknowledging the hardships being felt by the homeless, displaced migrants and economically disrupted workers around the world, the Pope pondered whether it "may be the time to consider a universal basic wage."

"It would ensure and concretely achieve the ideal, at once so human and so Christian, of no worker without rights," he said.

Pope Francis also spoke during an evening mass held at a mostly empty St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday, as nearby Italy and many countries around the world remain under some form of lockdown measure due to the coronavirus.

According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University , more than 1.8 million people are confirmed to have been infected globally. More than 113,000 have died. Separately on Sunday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was discharged from the hospital after being treated for the virus. He subsequently recorded a video in which he revealed there were points during his three nights in intensive care when "things could have gone either way." Johnson announced he'd received a positive diagnosis on March 27.

While expressing hope that "this time of danger will free us from … the idolatry of money," the Pope's letter acknowledged the significant economic strain millions of people are feeling around the world amid the pandemic. Global economic growth models vary considerably around the world, but virtually every country that has implemented social distancing and quarantine measures is expected to be thrown into a sharp, hopefully short period of economic contraction with rising unemployment.

The coronavirus pandemic has also wreaked havoc on global financial markets, though experts are bullish that the oil production agreement signed on Sunday by a group of the world's largest oil producing nations will renew an element of price stability around the world.

The deal – which involves the 14 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and several non-OPEC allies – will see oil producers cut their daily activity by 9.7 million barrels per day. It is the largest globally coordinated production cut in history. Negotiations had been ongoing for days, as Mexican officials were displeased at the amount of production they were being asked to cut.