- 24 June, 2025
VATICAN, June 24, 2025: Pope Leo XIV, while addressing lawmakers from across the globe during the Jubilee for Governments at the Vatican, held up St. Thomas More as a model for modern political leaders. He praised the saint’s unwavering commitment to truth, stating that More's willingness to lay down his life rather than compromise his beliefs makes him “a martyr for freedom and the primacy of conscience.
"The courage St. Thomas More showed by his readiness to sacrifice his life rather than betray the truth makes him, also for us today, a martyr for freedom and for the primacy of conscience."
Pope Leo XIV made this observation about the 16th-century English saint and former Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain when addressing members of the International Inter-Parliamentary Union in the context of the Jubilee for Governments taking place this weekend in the Vatican.
Pope Leo said politics has rightly been defined as “the highest form of charity.”
"If we consider the service that political life renders to society and to the common good," he said, "it can truly be seen as an act of Christian love, which is never simply a theory, but always a concrete sign and witness of God’s constant concern for the good of our human family."
In this regard, Pope Leo XIV delineated three considerations that he said he deems important in the current cultural context.
Promoting and protecting the good of the community
"The first," he noted, "concerns your responsibility to promote and protect, independent of any special interest, the good of the community, particularly by defending the vulnerable and the marginalized." He added that this would include, for example, "working to overcome the unacceptable disproportion between the immense wealth concentrated in the hands of a few and the world’s poor."
"Those who live in extreme conditions cry out to make their voices heard, and often find no ears willing to hear their plea," he decried, observing, "This imbalance generates situations of persistent injustice, which readily lead to violence and, sooner or later, to the tragedy of war."
"Sound politics, on the other hand, by promoting the equitable distribution of resources," the Pope explained, "can offer an effective service to harmony and peace both domestically and internationally."
Religious freedom and interreligious dialogue
Pope Leo XIV's second reflection concerned religious freedom and interreligious dialogue, an area which he said has taken on greater significance in the present time.
Political life, the Pope insisted, "can achieve much by encouraging the conditions for there to be authentic religious freedom and that a respectful and constructive encounter between different religious communities may develop."
"Belief in God, with the positive values that derive from it," he added, "is an immense source of goodness and truth for the lives of individuals and communities."
Natural law as essential reference point
"In order to have a shared point of reference in political activity, and not exclude a priori any consideration of the transcendent in decision-making processes," Pope Leo said, "it would be helpful to seek an element that unites everyone. To this end, an essential reference point is the natural law, written not by human hands, but acknowledged as valid in all times and places, and finding its most plausible and convincing argument in nature itself."
"Natural law, which is universally valid apart from and above other more debatable beliefs," the Pope continued, "constitutes the compass by which to take our bearings in legislating and acting, particularly on the delicate and pressing ethical issues that, today more than in the past, regard personal life and privacy."
The Holy Father also pointed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, approved and proclaimed by the United Nations on 10 December 1948, as part of humanity’s cultural heritage.
"That text, which is always relevant," he underscored, "can contribute greatly to placing the human person, in his or her inviolable integrity, at the foundation of the quest for truth, thus restoring dignity to those who do not feel respected in their inmost being and in the dictates of their conscience."
The challenge of artificial intelligence
The Pope turned to what he called the "major challenge" of artificial intelligence.
"This is a development that will certainly be of great help to society, provided that its employment does not undermine the identity and dignity of the human person and his or her fundamental freedoms," he said.
Despite its benefits, the Pope noted, "Our personal life has greater value than any algorithm, and social relationships require spaces for development that far transcend the limited patterns that any soulless machine can pre-package. Let us not forget that, while able to store millions of data points and answer many questions in a matter of seconds, artificial intelligence remains equipped with a 'static memory' that is in no way comparable to that of human beings."
“Let us not forget that, while able to store millions of data points and answer many questions in a matter of seconds, artificial intelligence remains equipped with a “static memory” that is in no way comparable to that of human beings.”
For these reasons, Pope Leo said, "Politics cannot ignore a challenge of this magnitude. On the contrary," he said, "it is called to respond to many citizens who rightly look with both confidence and concern at the issues raised by the new digital culture."
The witness and example of St. Thomas More
Finally, the Pope advised legislators around the world to turn to St. Thomas More. He recalled that during the Jubilee of the Year 2000, Saint John Paul II indicated the English saint as a witness for political leaders to revere and an intercessor under whose protection to place their work.
"Sir Thomas More," Pope Leo XIV said, "was a man faithful to his civic responsibilities, a perfect servant of the state precisely because of his faith, which led him to view politics not as a profession but as a mission for the spread of truth and goodness, who, the Pope remembered, 'placed his public activity at the service of the person, especially the weak and poor; he handled social disputes with an exquisite sense of justice; he protected the family and defended it with strenuous commitment; and he promoted the integral education of youth.'”
"The courage he showed by his readiness to sacrifice his life rather than betray the truth makes him, also for us today," Pope Leo underscored, "a martyr for freedom and for the primacy of conscience."
“The courage he showed by his readiness to sacrifice his life rather than betray the truth makes him, also for us today a martyr for freedom and for the primacy of conscience.”
With this in mind, before imparting his Apostolic Blessing, the Holy Father concluded, praying, "May his example be a source of inspiration and guidance for each of you!"
Courtesy: Vatican News
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