Recently there was a Letter to the Editor written by Sister Marcia Kruse.  She witnessed the funeral of Pope Francis and was moved to describe the many characteristics of leadership Francis applied to his world leader responsibilities.  

She posed a couple of very important questions that deserve our reflection:  “What would our world look like if everyone followed his humble example?” and “Can we expect our leaders to be kind of like him?”

Would it be possible to forge improved trade relations through mutual respect, as opposed to punitive tariffs that tax citizens, threaten a recession and create mass economic uncertainty? Actually, it’s been done repeatedly, by generations of leaders that built a global economy that benefits people throughout the world.

Would it be possible to work with political adversaries without belittling them and vengefully retaliating against anyone who disagrees with you? Actually, it’s been done, to create the Constitution and to continually perfect our “imperfect union” over the past 200-plus years.

Imagine brokering peace in Europe without accusing Ukraine of starting a war to preserve their freedom as an independent country.  Imagine brokering peace in Gaza without proposing taking that land away for a vacation real estate development. It’s been done.

Pope Francis, at his advanced age, continued to study new scientific realities and changed his opinions in light of new evidence.  How ridiculous of us to expect our governmental leaders to learn environmental science and develop strategies to reverse the gradual destruction of our planet. How unreasonable of us to expect our leaders to understand pandemic science, how vaccines work and the mountains of research necessary to better fight insidious diseases.

Is it possible to govern and admit when you are wrong? 

I am a big fan of former Missouri Senator John Danforth. He once co-authored an amendment to outlaw flag burning after the Supreme Court decided it was an allowable form of free speech protest. When the Senate voted on it he voted against it, having decided we didn’t need to mess with a First Amendment that had been in place for 200 years. He stood on the Senate floor and admitted he was wrong to start the proposed amendment.

When did leaders stop modeling values for us?  

The Boy Scouts first introduced me to values. A Scout is: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. It is hard to find any evidence of these values in our current administration, yet they were OK to teach to generations of boys. 

Does governing in the U.S. require the abandonment of values, or would it actually be enhanced by a value system?

With the passing of Pope Francis, most of us are reflecting on the lessons he provided us through example, and praying gratitude for his spiritual leadership.  Our president was posting a photo of himself in papal vestments. For what useful purpose did he do this?  Did anyone think this was funny?

There are obvious answers to Sister Kruse’s questions, and it shouldn’t have been necessary to pose them. The world would be a much better place if our leaders followed Pope Francis’ humble example.  Such humility is at the heart of what our Founding Fathers had in mind when they defined the roles of public servants to the people.

And we should expect our leaders to be like Pope Francis. Many of us claim our country is a Christian nation.  (It is not per our Constitution, which includes freedom of religion in the First Amendment.)  What is Christian about what our government is doing right now? What god would excuse false accusations, reputation-destroying slander, unfounded persecution, mass deportation and the suspension of due process law designed to protect people from their government?

If you accept the imperfections of our president and his followers because you think this is the only way to reform our government, you are sadly misinformed. Research history.  None of mankind’s great leaders resorted to the sordid ugliness we hear every day in our news cycle.  Your error in judgment diminishes our nation and what it stands for every day.

That bears reflection, as Sister Kruse asked us to do.