Ayed: Does the pope still matter in international relations?

By:
Nahlah Ayed
/
4 March, 2013
By: Nahlah Ayed
London correspondent for CBC News The National

Not as much as he used to.

In the days of Pope John Paul – he mattered because he sometimes took sides on big issues, because he was the first pope to visit a mosque and the first to visit a synagogue, and to the extent that he was actually able, though mere words, to occasionally bring about change.

In recent years, the papacy’s role in international affairs has largely been expressing opinions that, despite having the backing of a large following – and despite being on important matters – have little practical effect.

Before you click away, we’d like to ask you for a favour … 

Journalism in Canada has suffered a devastating decline over the last two decades. Dozens of newspapers and outlets have shuttered. Remaining newsrooms are smaller. Nowhere is this erosion more acute than in the coverage of foreign policy and international news. It’s expensive, and Canadians, oceans away from most international upheavals, pay the outside world comparatively little attention.

At Open Canada, we believe this must change. If anything, the pandemic has taught us we can’t afford to ignore the changing world. What’s more, we believe, most Canadians don’t want to. Many of us, after all, come from somewhere else and have connections that reach around the world.

Our mission is to build a conversation that involves everyone — not just politicians, academics and policy makers. We need your help to do so. Your support helps us find stories and pay writers to tell them. It helps us grow that conversation. It helps us encourage more Canadians to play an active role in shaping our country’s place in the world.

Become a Supporter