Politics is part of leadership. It's just a condition we live in, like needing the law of gravity to get to work in the morning. Anything that gets done requires other people's help—that's politics. JPII practiced politics all his life, which was critical to his work with Reagan and Mrs. Thatcher—both politicians—in bringing down the Evil Empire.
But St. John Paul's principles were up to the task of guiding him. He had studied philosophy. They're not all like that. The current Pope loves God, I'm sure, but he has never been a philosopher. Whatever his private virtues, he doesn't seem to understand the consequences of political and economic ideas.
Read the history of Popes and kings. This is nothing new. It's a scandal to Marxists that the good and merciful things that need to happen, happen through some very mediocre men—or at least by getting past them. Marxists claim to be pure in their motives, but even the most sincere ones only mean that they want a pure result. On the way there, they justify to themselves violating the rights they claim to believe in, so that good may follow. They reject politics in favor of conspiracy, because they think it's the only way. They're angry at God for human frailty, but the joke is on them, and us.
Judas, an Apostle, betrayed Jesus all the way to hell. St. Peter betrayed Our Lord three times, but made his virtues overcome his weaknesses. Christ chose to build His church on that foundation. Everything we know, secular and religious, shows us that it is only by wrestling with human chaos that holiness and perfection are possible. This is our Cross. I pray for the Pope—this one, and certainly for the next one!
Thank you. Great read. I agree with some of the principles here and some not so much.
“Anything that gets done requires other people’s help—that’s politics.”
“Politics”? I disagree as it’s “teamwork” and like-minded people agreeing with each other, in principle, to get things completed.
Politics is manipulation, to varying degrees, and is not the equivalent of “teamwork”.
Politics ultimately is about “the person” and personal gain... Teamwork get’s things accomplished.
just some thoughts but thanks for your read again. Great stuff.