The Pope who gets involved in politics

Rome. The prevailing narrative – the one that has taken hold – holds that Leo XIV is taciturn; that, unlike his highly interventionist predecessor, he does not like to take a stand on major political issues; and that he prefers a utopian neutrality, true to the saying that silence is the highest form of wisdom. More than a year after his election, this assessment should be revised, if not overturned. “The Pope has rebuked Milei”, ran the headlines in the newspapers yesterday, more or less to that effect, after Prevost had delivered his customary address to the Diplomatic Corps and the civil authorities upon his arrival in Argentina. It was routine because it is customary for the Pope, as the first act of a visit to a foreign country, to deliver that sort of speech. He gave “Trump’s friend” a dressing-down, as some remarked, given the anti-capitalist undertones scattered throughout the speech at the Casa Rosada. “The economy must be at the service of the person, and not the person at the service of the economy,” the Pontiff emphasised, whilst Milei nodded and then thanked him, quoting the very same Bergoglio whom he had previously labelled a communist and a devil (only to change his mind after an embrace in Rome), amidst thunderous applause from those present. “We must encourage everything that opens up new opportunities, stimulates private initiative and ensures that growth also reaches those facing the greatest difficulties. I am thinking, in particular, of families bearing the burden of uncertainty, of those seeking work, of the elderly, who for years have helped to build society, and of those who, despite working, struggle to provide for their families’ needs”, added Leone, who believes that “authority achieves its highest purpose when it is exercised as a service, when it looks beyond the immediate, and when it uses its capabilities to care for what belongs to everyone”. 

“Those who exercise it,” the Pope continued, “also have a duty to act with prudence, to recognise the limits of the power entrusted to them and to direct their decisions towards the good of the whole community.” A clear statement, just as clear as the one he made a month and a half ago at the Élysée Palace, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron: “I wish to express to you once again my gratitude for this meeting which, to echo the words spoken by Your Excellency to the bishops of France in 2018, highlights how ‘a Church that claims to take no interest in temporal matters would not be fully fulfilling its vocation; and a President of the Republic who claims to take no interest in the Church and in Catholics would be failing in his duty’Given everything Leone would go on to say during the various stages of his French tour – ranging from the right to life to a misunderstood concept of laïcité – to the extent that a journalist on the plane asked the Pope whether he thought he might have breached the sacred dogma of the separation of state and religion, the aim of this solemn rebuke was clear. Leone’s reply was unequivocal: “When the Church speaks of the defence of life or of matters of social doctrine, it is not engaging in politics, but rather applying the Gospel to people’s lives… if that is engaging in politics, then I have done so.”

Robert Prevost also spoke about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the rocket that struck the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Gaza a year ago. On that occasion, at the end of a summer Angelus at Castel Gandolfo, he condemned “the attack by the Israeli army”. He also responded to barbs from Donald Trump, who described him on social media as weak and terrible, as well as a lover of crime and a supporter of the Ayatollahs’ cause. He reaffirmed his support for last week’s midterm elections, speaking of his “pride” in being able to call himself an American. Leo XIV speaks little, it is true, by the standards to which we had become accustomed in the Church’s recent history. But when he speaks, he is unequivocal. In his addresses to civil authorities, he has always been so. Even in Spain, at the Cortes, last June. Without paying too much heed to diplomatic correctness. His hosts listen, understand and smile, as they can do nothing else. Meanwhile, the message gets across. It was the same in Uruguay, the most secularised and atheistic country in the whole of Latin America: there, the Pope spoke of life, family and faith. A clear path.