Curtis: Does the pope still matter in international relations?
Adjunct Professor at Queen's University and Chair of Statistics Canada's Advisory Committee on International Trade Statistics
No, the Pope and the Papacy more generally have a declining role in today’s society, even in countries and /or regions where Roman Catholicism is predominant. This fact is due, I would suggest, to the slow decline of institutions – be they governmental, religious, or even the family – world-wide (and the accompanying rise of less rigidly-organized networks), the rise of competing secular values/beliefs globally, and the choice in particular of the last two Holy Fathers who have not been able or willing to modernize the Church’s practices or structures, making the Church appear less-and-less relevant to the observant, never mind the less observant.
