In the presence of the prime minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, the pope improvised an elaborate speech on the meaning of politics.
He said a politician must worry not only about improving the country. He said a politician must also learn to dialogue with localisms and develop institutions. He called this “strengthening a nation.”
POPE FRANCIS
“Making a country progress seems easy, but it's not. It continuously involves international relations, commercial, scientific, technical ties, everything... Strengthening a nation sometimes presents difficulties understanding localisms. Every country has them, no?... dialects. However, there are also difficulties understanding rights, justice, but to make the nation stronger each time.”
The pope said a politician must also build the homeland, the most complicated task of all. He explained that it wouldn't be supporting a “traditionalist fantasy,” but rather discerning what is most convenient in each moment. Pope Francis said one must be free of ideologies in order to accomplish this.
POPE FRANCIS
“Ideologies breed sectarianism. Ideologies deconstruct the homeland; they don't build it. That's what we must learn from history.”
The pope recommended to Pedro Sánchez a book written by an Italian communist, which explains how the Nazi ideology used the crisis to impose their vision in Germany in the 1930s.
Pope Francis has always said politics is one of the highest forms of charity, but that he as pontiff had never, until now, fully developed his thoughts on the matter.
Javier Romero
Translation: CT
