Now is an appropriate time to recall that historic visit and the role that John Paul II and the Chilean bishops played in Chile’s peaceful transition to democracy, as well as clarify some misconceptions about that pilgrimage.
A comment:
“According to George Weigel’s authoritative biography of John Paul II, Witness to Hope, during this meeting Pinochet asked John Paul II: “Why is the Church always talking about democracy? One method of government is as good as another.” John Paul’s response was: “No. The people have a right to their liberties, even if they make mistakes in exercising them.”
1. The people have a right to their political liberties, if they are qualified to hold them. 2. This does not mean that a liberal democracy at the scale of the nation-state is necessarily the best or only means of satisfying (1). [my edit]
And this is the problem with popes voicing opinions about political issues, because there is no guarantee that their moral theology concerning political order and community, and the judgments issuing from it, is correct, as none of this falls within the Deposit of Faith as such.
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