There’s a natural tendency for people everywhere to forget that the pope is a global leader, and to assume that whatever he says or does is directed at them. Under Pope Francis, that may be a special temptation for Argentinians, because he’s one of them, and for Americans, because it’s where media discussion of the pope is often most animated.
More often than not, however, that sort of myopia is a mistake.
Recently, for example, Pope Francis talked about the “virus of polarization,” an “epidemic of animosity and violence,” and about the dangers of walls being built. Americans tended to hear references to their political climate and to the new administration of Donald Trump.
In reality, however, the pope’s horizons are almost certainly far broader.
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