Moreno Bernasconi: How many divisions does the Pope have?

In the impasse we find ourselves in—of rearmament and wars fueled by dictators or authoritarian regimes, of new nationalisms and imperialisms, of trade conflicts and new forms of poverty, of the decline of law and the resurgence of the law of the jungle—in which political authorities and institutions have lost credibility and authority, can a Pope perhaps be a point of reference for those seeking peace and justice and make a concrete impact on solving some of the problems of this terrible beginning of the twenty-first century?

The question would have provoked a smile, if not outrage, among the revolutionaries and elites who laid the foundations of modernity and perfected them, sometimes even against the Catholic Church when it colluded with liberticidal political powers. Stalin's sarcastic response during the Yalta Conference, called to reshape Europe and the world after the defeat of Nazism and Fascism, is well known: "How many divisions does the Pope have?" This was the Soviet dictator's response to someone who had outlined Pope Pius XII's expectations and vision. Perhaps "Baffone" should have been less arrogant.

Indeed—beyond the ironic, good-natured remark Pope Pacelli supposedly made privately upon the dictator's death in 1953 ("Now you'll see how many divisions we have up there...")—another Pope, the Polish Karol Wojtyla, contributed precisely to the collapse of the totalitarian regime in the USSR that Stalin had brutally constructed. John Paul II had no ironclad divisions. But the resilience of the Catholicism of the Polish people and the tenacious opposition to the communist dictatorship of the vast Solidarity movement, which his trip to Poland in 1979 had sparked, played a decisive role.

A journey of historic significance, followed by an intense policy of mending the division between the "two lungs of Europe," Eastern and Western (still divided by the Berlin Wall), one of the cornerstones of his pontificate, which underpins the encyclical "Slavorum Apostoli." The election of the Polish-born Karol Wojtyla to the See of Peter had a global geopolitical impact, contributing to the end of a dictatorship, the Cold War, and the era of a bipolarism based on nuclear deterrence, a threat to the entire planet.

A few decades have passed, and we have fallen back to the foot of the ladder. The new world order built after the two world wars to pacify international political and commercial relations appears to have fallen apart. Pope Francis has spoken of a changing era, of a "throwaway society," and of a new "piecemeal world war." In a world where power was concentrating in the hands of new tyrants and megalomaniacs, it must be recognized that a pope—who deliberately named himself after the Poor Man of Assisi, Francis—has become a recognized moral authority, well beyond the confines of the Catholic Church.

In truth, Pope Francis, albeit with his own radicalism, has positioned himself in continuity with the appeal launched by John Paul II in Assisi, at an unprecedented meeting of world religion leaders. This appeal delegitimized any attempt to politically exploit religion as an excuse or tool to justify war, and called on the faithful of all religions to assume responsibility for peace and justice. And Wojtyla's successor, Benedict XV, reiterated the call in Assisi 25 years later, so that in a century that opened with brutal attacks, religions would not encourage terrorism: "Never again violence in the name of God! Never again war! Never again terrorism! In the name of God, may every religion bring justice and peace, forgiveness and life, love, to the earth."

The pontificate of American (and Peruvian) Robert Francis Prevost, Leo XIV, began where Francis's ended, on Easter Sunday. His first words from the Loggia of St. Peter's were, in fact, "Peace be with you all!", "The peace of the Risen Christ." In his first address to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, he emphasized his awareness of a responsibility that goes beyond that of the Catholic community. It's worth reviewing its contents.

First, the importance of diplomacy, crucial in an age when the brutality of weapons and the logic of power relations prevail in international relations. "The diplomacy of the Holy See is inspired by a pastoral urgency aimed not at seeking privileges but at intensifying its evangelical mission in the service of humanity. It appeals to consciences, as did my venerable predecessor, ever attentive to the cry of the poor, the needy, and the marginalized, as well as to the challenges of our time, from the protection of creation to artificial intelligence."

Pope Leo XIV outlines "three pillars of the Church's mission: peace, justice, and truth" (which, he adds, "must never be separated from charity"). Peace "is not merely the absence of conflict" but involves every person and "requires self-work, it is built in the heart, eradicating pride and claims and measuring language: one can kill with words, not just with weapons... In this, the contribution that religions and dialogue between them can make to foster peace is fundamental." Starting from this work, "which we are all called to do, the premises for conflict and any destructive desire for conquest can be eradicated. This also requires a sincere desire for dialogue, animated by the desire to meet, not to clash. We need to give new life to multilateral diplomacy and international institutions, desired and designed to resolve disputes within the International community».

The second key word is justice. "Pursuing peace requires practicing justice." Pope Prevost said he chose the name Leo XIV after the pope who wrote the first great social encyclical, Rerum Novarum. The Church "must make its voice heard in the face of imbalances and injustices, unworthy working conditions, and increasingly fragmented and conflict-ridden societies. We must address global inequalities, in which opulence and poverty are carving deep furrows between continents, countries, and within societies."

The third pillar is truth. Pope Leo XIV emphasizes that "truly peaceful relations cannot be built, even within the international community, without truth. Where words take on ambiguous and ambivalent connotations and the virtual world, with its changed perception of reality, gains unchecked dominance, it is difficult to build authentic relationships, since the objective and real premises of communication are lacking. For her part, the Church can never refrain from speaking the truth about humanity and the world, resorting when necessary to frank language, which can give rise to some initial misunderstanding."

The role of Catholic church It is not political: it is pastoral but universal. In times when international organizations are ignored by the desire for power and the struggle for national or imperial interests prevails, the Catholic Church remains a universal voice and presence. It can act as a pastoral counterforce to all empires. In the case of the American Pope Prevost, it can even be such a counterforce to the one who has anointed himself the "maximum leader" of the United States and the West. A counterforce not without its profound internal crises and limitations, certainly. But one that we hope can be beneficial.