Why would you pick up a book containing speeches delivered by the Pope on Europe?

Because the European Union, even before Brexit, seemed as if searching for a purpose, and just adding a list of new rules and frameworks as a surrogate.

Seen from outside, the European Union has a higher meaning and aim to achieve- and somebody who is leading what has been called "the last soft power left" certainly can tell us something from a different perspective.

without being impolite, it is like the old joke about management consultants that I was told at the beginning of my career, in the mid-1980s

it goes as follows: a management consultant is the one who gets paid by a customer to borrow the customer's wristwatch, and tell what's the time

because the customer often knows what's the time, but, lost in details and everyday bickering and politics, doesn't want to be the one who tells it

the same applies to soft power: you know the options, but you need somebody from outside "the game" to tell you what they are

in this short book, beside Pope Francis' speeches, you will find also two short essays that can be summarized with that joke

yes, obviously there are some "prescriptions" that are from the specific perspective of the Pope, but, frankly, even those are wrapped within the context of what I heard often in workshops, seminars, read in books and articles, interview, etc.- but seem to stop at the door of the Brussels buildings of power

if you read the European draft constitution, you know what I mean- despite the involvement of many "highly visible" politicians (including from my own country, Italy), it was structured as the current annual Italian budget, not as an inspiring documents to act as a shared framework of reference from the Atlantic to the Urals, as once was said

therefore, it is welcome to sometimes be remembered how less can be more- all the legal and technocratic structures that we are building up in Europe will not replace a shared purpose ( )