Guzmán Carriquiry is one of the few people who can say Pope Francis wrote him two prologues for the same book. It's entitled “Memory, courage and hope” and it's a reflection on the bicentennial of Latin American independence.
Cardinal Bergoglio prepared a prologue for the first edition, and now Pope Francis has written another for the second, this time using strong words.
GUZMÁN CARRIQUIRY
Secretary, Pontifical Commission for Latin America
“That Latin America that moves without historic projects, (the pope says without 'good utopias'), but rather with a short-term pragmatism in which the fight for power and worldly ambitions mix. The pope wanted to take advantage of the bicentennial to put things in motion, to broaden horizons.”
Pope Francis dreams of Latin America resuming the “Patria Grande” project that independence framers had hoped for.
GUZMÁN CARRIQUIRY
Secretary, Pontifical Commission for Latin America
“He wants a united Latin America. He talks about the 'Patria Grande'... he has brought back this expression. The 'Patria grande' means common heritage, common filiation, brotherhood based on more than just blood ties.”
It doesn't involve a political project, but rather a living horizon. It's what the pope has tried to sow with trips to countries like Colombia, Mexico, Cuba or Paraguay.
GUZMÁN CARRIQUIRY
Secretary, Pontifical Commission for Latin America
“What the pope wants in each country is the rebuilding of that social friendship. The pope wants the restoration of ties, of the social and familial fabric that make a people out of a population, that make a nation.”
This is a book that gives solutions to private interests hindering a society's development.
