Global PersPectives
Orthodox tradition and Islam, the Pope pro
vided a critique of irresponsible development
and excessive spending. He described the
destruction to the environment caused by
fossil fuels at the hands of humanity, warning
of the grave environmental, economic, po liti
cal, and social consequences— especially for
the poor. His calls for social action in this
encyclical give policymakers a moral justifi
cation for taking mea sures to address cli
mate change. His call for every Catholic
family to take in refugees is yet another illus
tration of leading by pleading with people to
act morally.
The Pope, like other popes before him, has
facilitated diplomatic initiatives and thus con
ducted track two diplomacy. The Vatican has
long aimed to help restore Cuba to the com
munity of nations. Cardinal O’Malley of Boston,
a confidant of Pope Francis, played a key role
in getting the issue of Cuba and U.S. relations
added to the agenda in the March 2014 meet
ing between President Obama and Pope Fran
cis in Rome. Cardinal Jaime Ortega acted for
Pope Francis, bringing him up to date on the
critical issues. That meeting had been a followUsing both traditional church encyclicals and
con temporary social media, the Pope speaks
forcefully on the major issues of the day, as he
did during his triumphant visit to the United
States in the autumn of 2015. Those issues
include criticizing excessive monetary ambi
tions and advocating for greater controls on
financial markets and greater social justice.
Using his personal popularity and charisma,
he has appealed for and engaged in inter
faith dialogue. During a 2014 trip to Jordan,
he worked to bring Jews and Muslims into
dialogue and sought closer relationships with
the estranged Orthodox Churches of the east.
In 2015, the Vatican signed a treaty with the
“state of Palestine” following 15 years of negoti
ations and dialogue. The hope is that this devel
opment leads to better relations between Israel
and the Palestinians and serves as an example
of cooperation to other states in the Middle
East.
In 2015, the Pope issued a 184 page papal
encyclical to highlight the con temporary
challenge of climate change. Drawing on the
Bible, past papal encyclicals, and statements
by other religious leaders from the Eastern
Ascending to the papacy in 2013, Pope Francis represents a number of firsts: the first
Jesuit pope, the first from the Amer i cas (Argentina), the first from the southern hemi
sphere, and the first non European since 741. Taking the name of Francis after Saint
Francis of Assisi, the Pope has followed the example of his namesake. He has shown his
concern for the poor and weak and his disdain for an international system where unbri
dled capitalism has led to the unequal division of wealth. His approach is humble and
welcoming to all peoples, the sick, the imprisoned, even those whose lifestyle is not
accepted by official church doctrine. While espousing the traditional views of the
church against homo sexuality, abortion, and ordination of women, he has publicly
stated that those individuals should be treated with love and re spect.