Obama's Worldly Charisma Pales Beside that of Pope Francis (La Stampa, Italy)
"The American president showed himself to be rather in awe,
and that the pope did not. ... Obama, given his history, embodied and still
embodies hope. The hope embodied by the pope, however, placed in him by
billions of men and women as a 'leader' without an army and without an empire,
stands for something quite different: as a response not only to our penultimate
questions about the meaning of life, but the ultimate ones as well."
A
lot of people noticed that throughout the meeting between Obama and Pope
Francis, the former was beaming, and the latter was serious, composed, looking like
someone experiencing a moment, all things considered, that was quite ordinary.
Many have also noted that the American president showed himself to be rather in
awe, and that the pope did not.
If
so - and the pictures show this to be the case - this is the probably the first
time in which a president of United States, who by definition is one of the most
powerful men in the world, feels, if I might say so - a sort of inferiority
complex toward his interlocutor. It is likely that Obama, who had already met
Pope Ratzinger, felt almost intimidated by the
charisma of a man who has astonished the world not so much for what he says, but
for the way he has lived and continues to live. More likely still is that Pope
Francis, even given the respect and an awareness of the importance of his guest,
didn't consider today's meeting more important than many other encounters he
has with ordinary people, such as the poor from his parish in Buenos Aires,
penitents who come to confess, the infirm without hope of recovery, or parents
worried about a child.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
There
will of course be plenty of talk about the contents of the conversation between
Obama and the pope - on the issues of global politics, disarmament, poverty, on
the things that unite them and those that do not, such as abortion and gay
marriage. Of course these talks, which surely occurred, should be taken into
account. However, it would be a mistake to consider today's meeting as one
between heads of state. Obama is a head of state, while the pope is not. They
are two operating on different planes. One deals with the things of this world,
while the other thinks about how the things of this world aren't the last word
in life.
Of
course Obama, given his history, embodied and still embodies hope. The hope
embodied by the pope, however, placed in him by billions of men and women as a
"leader" without an army and without an empire, stands for something
quite different: as a response not only to our penultimate questions about the
meaning of life, but the ultimate ones as well.
