References

Francesco, Papa Sognare l'Europa: Saggi di Lucio Caracciolo e Andrea Riccardi BookID 148760290 ISBN 9788810963173 (see LibraryThing.com card)

Description (from Amazon)

Il primo pontefice sudamericano della storia ha mostrato di avere molto a cuore i destini dell'Europa e ben chiari i suoi compiti.

Il volume propone tre testi di papa Francesco: i discorsi al Consiglio d'Europa e al Parlamento europeo (25 novembre 2014) e quello pronunciato in occasione del Premio internazionale Carlo Magno, conferitogli il 6 maggio 2016.

A 60 anni dalla firma del Trattato di Roma (25 marzo 1957), Lucio Caracciolo e Andrea Riccardi accompagnano questi interventi con un proprio contributo di taglio geopolitico ed ecclesiale.

My review: 3.5/5

Why would you pick up a book containing speeches delivered by the Pope on Europe?

Because the European Union, even before Brexit, seemed as if searching for a purpose, and just adding a list of new rules and frameworks as a surrogate.

Seen from outside, the European Union has a higher meaning and aim to achieve- and somebody who is leading what has been called ""the last soft power left"" certainly can tell us something from a different perspective.

Without being impolite, it is like the old joke about management consultants that I was told at the beginning of my career, in the mid-1980s

It goes as follows: a management consultant is the one who gets paid by a customer to borrow the customer's wristwatch, and tell what's the time because the customer often knows what's the time, but, lost in details and everyday bickering and politics, doesn't want to be the one who tells it

The same applies to soft power: you know the options, but you need somebody from outside ""the game"" to tell you what they are

In this short book, beside Pope Francis' speeches, you will find also two short essays that can be summarized with that joke yes, obviously there are some ""prescriptions"" that are from the specific perspective of the Pope, but, frankly, even those are wrapped within the context of what I heard often in workshops, seminars, read in books and articles, interview, etc.- but seem to stop at the door of the Brussels buildings of power

If you read the European draft constitution, you know what I mean- despite the involvement of many ""highly visible"" politicians (including from my own country, Italy), it was structured as the current annual Italian budget, not as an inspiring documents to act as a shared framework of reference from the Atlantic to the Urals, as once was said

Therefore, it is welcome to sometimes be remembered how less can be more- all the legal and technocratic structures that we are building up in Europe will not replace a shared purpose"

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