Canon in D (english): Arrivederci Siena, Saint Catherine and Politics

The last phase of this transition has begun. My time in Siena is up. I am done with Italian school and by now I am supposed to speak Italian. Today I am finally settled down in Casa Santa Maria in Rome where I will reside for the next three years. The last week was full of goodbyes to the friends made and the places that I became accustomed to.

Saint Catherine was there too. On my last weekend I took advantage of some quiet time and read her letters to the civil authorities. St Catherine was God’s instrument to bring the papacy back to Rome from its time of exile in Avignon. Also, she worked hard to achieve peace among the Italian states. Therefore, her ministry involved high diplomatic and political skills. While reading, I only could think on the common, forever condition of those involved with politics and governments: corruption. As a matter of fact, there is a strike right now in Italy asking for a good government. The economic and political situation of this country is not in its best shape. Everybody complains about that. But it is not a rarity. It is hard to find people in the world who are satisfied with their government. And even harder, it is to find good leaders, presidents or kings up and down the centuries.

During my high school years, I was a “politician.” I presented my name for the student’s council elections twice. Even though I did not fulfill all the promises I made campaigning in the first time, I won it in both opportunities as the president. It was not easy going around the school halls having followers almost bullying me for not granting them their requests. I did not have power per se. I was only a student who held a representative post. However, I experienced the frustration that comes from wanting good things for all and not being able to get them. Justice was the motto. By the way, this was the experience that prompted me to go to civil law school in order to start my preparation for President of Colombia.

So bringing up the frustrations of the peoples of the world with their governments, my questions are: what would be a good solution for it? Are we eternally damn to have bad governments? Am I ever going to experience a good one, anywhere? When we listen to the discourse of any politician, almost invariable, there is the desire of seeking the common good expressed in the rhetoric of service. In fact, the call for those who hold a public office is to serve their people, seeking the common good.

Pope Benedict, on his address to the German Parliament last week, offered a reflection about the role of politicians in the world. In the First Book of the Kings, it is recounted that God invited the young King Solomon, on his accession to the throne, to make a request. What will the young ruler ask for at this important moment? Success – wealth – long life – destruction of his enemies? He chooses none of these things. Instead, he asks for a listening heart so that he may govern God’s people, and discern between good and evil (cf. 1 Kg 3:9). Through this story, the Bible wants to tell us what should ultimately matter for a politician. His fundamental criterion and the motivation for his work as a politician must not be success, and certainly not material gain. Politics must be a striving for justice, and hence it has to establish the fundamental preconditions for peace. Naturally a politician will seek success, as this is what opens up for him the possibility of effective political action. Yet success is subordinated to the criterion of justice, to the will to do what is right, and to the understanding of what is right. Success can also be seductive and thus can open up the path towards the falsification of what is right, towards the destruction of justice. “Without justice – what else is the State but a great band of robbers?”, as Saint Augustine once said.

To become a politician shouldn’t be a matter of academic preparation only. It is also a vocation, because it involves service. Where are the politicians of the future? Where are the ones for the real change, the ones who will make the difference? They are in our homes! Our youth full of passion for the Lord and love of neighbor. We should encourage also them to consider politics as a vocation in life for the service of people, justice and peace.