Friday, September, 25th, 2015, 9:38 pm
 
Following a whirlwind tour of Washington, D.C. and New York, displaying his political, religious and environmental diplomatic skills, Pope Francis may have emerged as the first truly global leader in the history of the modern world.
OK, that may be a stretch.
But one would be hard pressed to find another leader in history who has had the global following and the global vision of this charismatic spiritual and political leader. And make no mistake about it – while he may be first and foremost a spiritual teacher, he is also a consummate politician.
And he comes to the world stage at a time when there has been a total vacuum of global leadership. No one – not a single leader from any country on earth – has had the political capital and spiritual vision of this leader of 1.2 billion Catholics around the world and an untold number from all faith traditions who think he is a contemporary saint.
No other world leader in modern times has been willing to risk what political capital they did possess in the pursuit of long term humanity-serving goals. One would be a challenge to name a contemporary political leader whose vision extended beyond the next election.
Maybe because Pope Francis is not facing a ‘next election,’ perhaps for other reasons, this pope is on a mission from God, and he’s speaking out and being heard.
There’s no real need to elaborate on his message. His words alone are sufficient. From his recent Encyclical on Care of Our Common Home, delivered in June, and his address to a joint Session of Congress delivered on Thursday, and finally his address to the delegates of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday his words display both his leadership and his vision eloquently.
As the pontiff said to the delegates from more than 200 member countries of the United Nations, “A good political leader is one who, with the interests of all in mind, seizes the moment in a spirit of openness and pragmatism.”
Pope Francis is seizing that moment.
Some highlights from his speeches of the past two days:
On climate change:
“I call for a courageous and responsible effort to redirect our steps and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity. I am convinced that we can make a difference and I have no doubt that the United States -and this Congress—have an important role to play. Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a culture of care and an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.”
“Today’s world presents us with many false rights and – at the same time – broad sectors which are vulnerable, victims of power badly exercised: for example, the natural environment and the vast ranks of the excluded. These sectors are closely interconnected and made increasingly fragile by dominant political and economic relationships.
“That is why their rights must be forcefully affirmed, by working to protect the environment and by putting an end to exclusion.”
On the ‘cry of the earth, and the ‘cry of the poor’:
“First, it must be stated that a true “right of the environment” does exist, for two reasons. First, because we human beings are part of the environment. We live in communion with it, since the environment itself entails ethical limits which human activity must acknowledge and respect. Man, for all his remarkable gifts, which “are signs of a uniqueness which transcends the spheres of physics and biology,” is at the same time a part of these spheres. He possesses a body shaped by physical, chemical and biological elements, and can only survive and develop if the ecological environment is favorable.
“Any harm done to the environment, therefore, is harm done to humanity.”
“Second, because every creature, particularly a living creature, has an intrinsic value, in its existence, its life, its beauty and its interdependence with other creatures. We Christians, together with the other monotheistic religions, believe that the universe is the fruit of a loving decision by the Creator, who permits man respectfully to use creation for the good of his fellow men and for the glory of the Creator; he is not authorized to abuse it, much less to destroy it. In all religions, the environment is a fundamental good.”
“Economic and social exclusion is a complete denial of human fraternity and a grave offense against human rights and the environment. The poorest are those who suffer most from such offenses, for three serious reasons: they are cast off by society, forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the abuse of the environment. They are part of today’s widespread and quietly growing “culture of wast.”
On political leadership:
“Our world demands of all government leaders a will which is effective, practical and constant, concrete steps and immediate measures for preserving and improving the natural environment and thus putting an end as quickly as possible to the phenomenon of social and economic exclusion, with its baneful consequences: human trafficking, the marketing of human organs and tissues, the sexual exploitation of boys and girls, slave labor, including prostitution, the drug and weapons trade, terrorism and international organized crime.”
“For all this, the simplest and best measure and indicator of the implementation of the new agenda for development will be effective, practical and immediate access, on the part of all, to essential material and spiritual goods: housing, dignified and properly remunerated employment, adequate food and drinking water; religious freedom and, more generally, spiritual freedom and education. These pillars of integral human development have a common foundation, which is the right to life and, more generally, what we could call the right to existence of human nature itself.”
“The ecological crisis, and the large-scale destruction of biodiversity, can threaten the very existence of the human species.”
On war and peace:
“War is the negation of all rights and a dramatic assault on the environment. If we want true integral human development for all, we must work tirelessly to avoid war between nations and between peoples.”
“The most basic understanding of human dignity compels the international community, particularly through the norms and mechanisms of international law, to do all that it can to stop and to prevent further systematic violence against ethnic and religious minorities” and to protect innocent peoples.”
“The common home of all men and women must continue to rise on the foundations of a right understanding of universal fraternity and respect for the sacredness of every human life, of every man and every woman, the poor, the elderly, children, the infirm, the unborn, the unemployed, the abandoned, those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic
The time for action is now:
“We cannot permit ourselves to postpone “certain agendas” for the future. The future demands of us critical and global decisions in the face of worldwide conflicts which increase the number of the excluded and those in need.”
The pope had much more to say, of course. But these excerpts present a picture Francis’ vision and his understanding of the leadership challenges facing him and any who would step up and accept them.
There is a Hopi indigenous saying that goes something like, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”
Perhaps Pope Francis has heard that wisdom saying.
Perhaps he is the global leader the world has been waiting for.
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The TRUTH will set you FREE.
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