The mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, says Pope Francis is, “the strongest moral voice in the world today,” and says he is calling the world’s leading political forces to action. De Blasio made the statement during an interview at a two-day workshop at the Vatican called “Modern Slavery and Climate Change: A Commitment of the Cities,” organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
“I want to say upfront I think this was an extraordinary gathering and the Pope once again has shown us a new kind of leadership,” the mayor said, especially “by bringing together mayors from around the world and the leaders who want to take action on climate change and human trafficking right now… This is the way to change the paradigm,” he added.
“Having the support of His Holiness is the most encouraging thing I can think of,” he added. “It is the most empowering possibility to have the strongest moral voice in the globe today calling us to action… So to me, it was an absolute privilege to be a part of this… His voice is so inspirational.”
The [climate] encyclical, the mayor went on to say, is “an extraordinarily important document,” which “powerfully” and “sharply” conveys “the need for change… If we are not attending to the Earth, if we don’t have a just economy, if those two realities are based on business and government decisions that don’t make sense, unfortunately they deepen the negative trend cycle.”
“[The Pope] is a leader such as we have not seen before… He is saying things so clearly and powerfully all over the world. He is moving people on an extraordinary level. And we have few truly international leaders in any sense. What he is doing is creating an international voice of conscience.”
When asked his view of the pope bringing this message to Congress and Washington, Mayor de Blasio said, “I hope it will have a ‘cleansing effect’ on the US Congress… The Pope’s message needs to be heard in Washington. It has been ignored. The very ideas of addressing inequality and creating a more fair economic reality have been ignored. The timing really couldn’t be any better,” the mayor said. “I think he has the ability to cut through all that and really be a wake-up call for Congress.”
“Mayor Bill de Blasio wonders after…”
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