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HOW POPE FRANCIS BECAME SUCH A FORCE IN FOREIGN POLICY
Washington Post
April 15 2015
By Kevin Clarke
Two Jesuit priests visiting New York this week from the frontlines in
Syria hope to keep the crisis from falling off the world's humanitarian
horizon. They know that the bloodletting in Syria competes every
day with headlines from new global flashpoints -- Yemen, Nigeria
Ukraine. How can this crisis ever be brought to an end? Who might be
able to convene a multilateral counsel that could tackle Syria and the
other emerging conflicts of the post-Arab Spring? Only Pope Francis,
they decide, has the moral authority and international credibility
to pull that diplomatic miracle off.
Known for his sensitive approach to some of the thorniest pastoral
problems confronting the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has also become
an active participant in a number of international affairs. He even
had a direct hand in unraveling the decades-long impasse between the
United States and Cuba.
He has pushed for diplomacy in Syria and in resolving the question
of Iran's nuclear intentions. On Sunday, he called the Armenian
genocide by name, something diplomats in other states, including the
United States, have long been hesitant to do, fearing its effect on
relations with Turkey. The Vatican likewise prefers a constructive
relationship with Ankara, but the pope has apparently decided that
that relationship has to be based on truth.
Francis's "off the script" humanity has proved dramatically effective
in reaching people around the world. When he calls for peace in Syria,
demands a multilateral response to Islamic State terror in Iraq,
speaks out on behalf of migrants perishing on the Mediterranean,
the pope's voice cracks and chokes, his face twists in anguish.
He brings a sincerity and compassion to international affairs that
few professional diplomats would dare emulate, but which has moved
millions.
There is nothing radically different about the positions Pope Francis
takes on some of the foreign policy issues of our times. Pope Benedict
XVI, for example, was just as critical of free market impacts on the
world's most vulnerable and first positioned himself as the "green
pope" on climate change.
It should come as no surprise that Pope Francis has involved himself
in the great global affairs of his times. The church, after all,
represents perhaps the largest and oldest transnational entity in the
world. Its diplomats have long been reliable backchannel operatives
for the world's great powers on tricky matters that require subtlety
and discretion. But the church's diplomatic initiatives, whether they
ever come to see the light of day, do not come without risk.
Francis is willing to take such risks, as he has already demonstrated
within the church, where financial and structural reforms in Rome have
ruffled curial feathers. He has spoken out against human trafficking
and what he memorably termed a "globalization of indifference"
encouraged by free market ideology.
The pope has defended the rights of refugees and migrants and called
for a reassessment of the ethics of nuclear deterrence. He has reached
out to the Islamic world by defending the rights of Muslims in the West
and demanding protection for Christian communities in the Middle East.
There are risks for the pope in stepping forcefully into the world of
foreign affairs. How will he repair the rift with Turkey when he has
spoken so bluntly? His prayer offensive may have given President Obama
enough pause for diplomacy to succeed in removing chemical weapons
from Syria before U.S. airstrikes attempted the same, but some have
come to criticize the pope's intervention. Did he save lives in Syria
or merely contribute to prolonging a gruesome stalemate? It was nice to
see Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President
Shimon Peres pray together in Rome in 2014, but just weeks later came
shock and awe over Gaza -- again. Had the pope accomplished nothing?
Even as the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis continues,
getting both sides together in prayer was a symbolic achievement that
could yet bear fruit in ways we don't understand or recognize today. A
believer in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, of things seen and unseen,
Pope Francis recognizes that he remains an instrument of a future he
cannot completely foresee and may not experience. That's why he will
remain willing to take risks, why he will be willing to orchestrate
prayerful gestures that may seem futile or naive but which could be
the seed for the peaceful co-existence that should be the aim of all
contemporary foreign policy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/04/15/how-pope-francis-became-such-a-force-in-foreign-policy/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Washington Post
April 15 2015
By Kevin Clarke
Two Jesuit priests visiting New York this week from the frontlines in
Syria hope to keep the crisis from falling off the world's humanitarian
horizon. They know that the bloodletting in Syria competes every
day with headlines from new global flashpoints -- Yemen, Nigeria
Ukraine. How can this crisis ever be brought to an end? Who might be
able to convene a multilateral counsel that could tackle Syria and the
other emerging conflicts of the post-Arab Spring? Only Pope Francis,
they decide, has the moral authority and international credibility
to pull that diplomatic miracle off.
Known for his sensitive approach to some of the thorniest pastoral
problems confronting the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has also become
an active participant in a number of international affairs. He even
had a direct hand in unraveling the decades-long impasse between the
United States and Cuba.
He has pushed for diplomacy in Syria and in resolving the question
of Iran's nuclear intentions. On Sunday, he called the Armenian
genocide by name, something diplomats in other states, including the
United States, have long been hesitant to do, fearing its effect on
relations with Turkey. The Vatican likewise prefers a constructive
relationship with Ankara, but the pope has apparently decided that
that relationship has to be based on truth.
Francis's "off the script" humanity has proved dramatically effective
in reaching people around the world. When he calls for peace in Syria,
demands a multilateral response to Islamic State terror in Iraq,
speaks out on behalf of migrants perishing on the Mediterranean,
the pope's voice cracks and chokes, his face twists in anguish.
He brings a sincerity and compassion to international affairs that
few professional diplomats would dare emulate, but which has moved
millions.
There is nothing radically different about the positions Pope Francis
takes on some of the foreign policy issues of our times. Pope Benedict
XVI, for example, was just as critical of free market impacts on the
world's most vulnerable and first positioned himself as the "green
pope" on climate change.
It should come as no surprise that Pope Francis has involved himself
in the great global affairs of his times. The church, after all,
represents perhaps the largest and oldest transnational entity in the
world. Its diplomats have long been reliable backchannel operatives
for the world's great powers on tricky matters that require subtlety
and discretion. But the church's diplomatic initiatives, whether they
ever come to see the light of day, do not come without risk.
Francis is willing to take such risks, as he has already demonstrated
within the church, where financial and structural reforms in Rome have
ruffled curial feathers. He has spoken out against human trafficking
and what he memorably termed a "globalization of indifference"
encouraged by free market ideology.
The pope has defended the rights of refugees and migrants and called
for a reassessment of the ethics of nuclear deterrence. He has reached
out to the Islamic world by defending the rights of Muslims in the West
and demanding protection for Christian communities in the Middle East.
There are risks for the pope in stepping forcefully into the world of
foreign affairs. How will he repair the rift with Turkey when he has
spoken so bluntly? His prayer offensive may have given President Obama
enough pause for diplomacy to succeed in removing chemical weapons
from Syria before U.S. airstrikes attempted the same, but some have
come to criticize the pope's intervention. Did he save lives in Syria
or merely contribute to prolonging a gruesome stalemate? It was nice to
see Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President
Shimon Peres pray together in Rome in 2014, but just weeks later came
shock and awe over Gaza -- again. Had the pope accomplished nothing?
Even as the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis continues,
getting both sides together in prayer was a symbolic achievement that
could yet bear fruit in ways we don't understand or recognize today. A
believer in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, of things seen and unseen,
Pope Francis recognizes that he remains an instrument of a future he
cannot completely foresee and may not experience. That's why he will
remain willing to take risks, why he will be willing to orchestrate
prayerful gestures that may seem futile or naive but which could be
the seed for the peaceful co-existence that should be the aim of all
contemporary foreign policy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/04/15/how-pope-francis-became-such-a-force-in-foreign-policy/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress