Opinion | Pope Francis projected a lonely moral voice in a new political world and Trump’s new world

Pope Francis worked for a month in a hospital in Rome, fighting double pneumonia and its complications. His condition is severe for anyone, but may be even more threatening to an 88-year-old man whose lungs were removed at a young age and who stubbornly refused to slow down. Although the Vatican reported this week that he was improving, he may have been weakened, and some speculated that he could decide to step down.

Either way, the fate of the pope remains a concern among the approximately 1.3 billion Catholics in the world, and for those who see Francis as the increasingly lonely moral voice on the world stage, the source of curiosity is worrying and wondering which pope will succeed in the end.

Especially among the many Americans today, especially those who desperately seek lights in the darkness of Donald Trump, a desire for his own needs and interests, including the least powerful.

Because this pope has become an increasingly lonely moral voice against dangerous global trends that sometimes put the power of liberal democracy in trouble: nationalism, populism, falsehood, xenophobia, economic inequality and authoritarianism. A world without a pope like Francis will be somewhat similar to Hobbes’ dystopia without a prophet pointing to our better angels, and also displaying wise idealists, showing better ways.

As those worrying political trends accelerate, Francis became more outspoken, especially in the face of Mr. Trump’s election victory. Shortly before the onset of the current illness, Francis directly targeted Mr. Trump’s massive deportation policy and the demonization of immigration. “It will be bad if you suck it on the basis of force, not the truth about the equal dignity of everyone,” Francis warned in an unusual letter to the American Bishop.

The Pope was elected the first pope in the Southern Hemisphere 12 years ago this month, the first Jesuit pope, the first pope to name a saint from Assisi. He headed to the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa in the sultry heat, where so many migrants landed, or their ships and bodies were lost, and celebrated the Mass on an altar made of wood from refugee ships.

Francis also condemned the destructive temptation of populism and the rise of “myopia, extremism, resentment and enterprising nationalism.” During his visit to Athens in 2021, he warned that he opposed global “retreat democracy,” a political system that calls it “a response to authoritarian siren songs.” Unification of the world powers in a common battle with global warming was also the central theme of his pope.

The Pope is not a moralist in the stars. As he likes to say, “reality is greater than thought”, and he is realistic about the way the world works. He hated ideology, hijacked his mind, and mocked old-fashioned politics. Politics “is a hard day: seeking common good without letting oneself corrupt,” he told aspiring politicians.

Warnings that “propaganda, divide the world into friends to defend, and enemies to fight” the pope once forcibly pushes for an inclusive church and a world that is inclusive. Like the Gospels, Francis was a bad thing before that, and he was still convincing because he focused on the moral core of diversity, equity and inclusion, and why they mattered. The key is humility and mercy.

Read the outstanding speech of the 2015 Joint Congress: Francis not only guided Catholics such as Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day, but also involved the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. “Imitating the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to replace them,” Francis said, adding: “We must move forward together as one person in a new spirit of fraternity and unity, and cooperate generously for the common good.” ”

Of course, the use of the Pope as a bastion of liberal values ​​can be seen as ironic. Until the mid-last century, the Catholic Church was at least formal, without democracy, religious freedom or other principles of Americans, most notably the foundation.

Or a habit. Now we have the Pope that promotes many rights and principles that most parts of the United States seem to be opposed. But that’s where we are. Villanova theologian Massimo Faggioli recently said: “In this era of this new empire power, I doubt that the Catholic Church is the best anti-imperialism we have – warts and all.”

That slim hope depends on who will eventually succeed Francis. Some Catholics (including major players in the U.S. government) have the fever dream of “Pope Trump” and they will clear the liberal and homosexual churches, as well as anyone considered “pagan.”

However, in Trump mold, there are no viable “Pababili” or Pope candidates, and in Cardinal College, political conservatives are smaller, whose members elect the pope and are largely appointed by Francis. Mr. Trump’s bullying style may even lead to strong opposition among the cardinals, and the pope’s successor’s friendly rate towards Trumpist populism is less than a year ago.

The results of the next meeting are likely to be considered a political test for Mr. Trump and his movement, just as the October 1978 meeting sent a message to the Soviet Union. In that election, the Cardinal chose Karol Wojtyla of Poland, a 58-year-old cardinal in the ice world who became John Paul II from behind the iron curtain. “How many departments does the Pope have?” Stalin once asked when he warned against the Vatican. Stalin’s successor learned the answer in a difficult way: John Paul II helped overthrow communism.

Of course, the description between good and evil today is not very clear. The Soviet successor was authoritarian citizenship, which, in the hospital’s recent message, did not neatly fit the Eastern and Western paradigms, and Francis lamented what he called the world “Polycrisis”. The solution will require what he once called the “hand path” to create a handmade peace through the daily actions and decisions of an individual.

It was a difficult route in the seemingly complex Cold War world. But as Democrats fight for Mr. Trump’s message, they will do worse than listening to a pope who preached for more than a decade.

David Gibson is director of the Center for Religion and Culture at Fordham University and has covered the Vatican for forty years as a journalist.

Times are committed to publishing Variety of letters To the editor. We want to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. These are some Tip. Here is our email: [email protected].

Follow the New York Times’ opinion section Facebook,,,,, Instagram,,,,, Tiktok,,,,, Bruceky,,,,, WhatsApp and Thread.