The religious dimension is neither a appendix nor a label: it orders and finalizes the whole conduct of the person. Whoever teaches others, with the authority received from Christ, to know and live the truth of their relationship with God, indirectly but effectively influences their social, cultural, political and economic activities.

It can therefore be said that the influence of the Popes has not been limited to the religious world: it has had and continues to have repercussions in all areas of social life.
Some Popes, however, have intervened in a more direct way in the events of Humanity. I will only mention three cases, very distant in time, that could easily come to the attention of history buffs report .

The first takes place in the 5th century. For more than twenty years, the Huns had spread terror, devastation and death throughout Europe. Despite his partial defeat in the Catalunian Fields, Attila seized northern Italy in 452. Not only the lives of thousands of people were at risk, but also the Roman and Christian cultural and religious heritage. When destruction seemed inevitable, one man, Leo the Great, went to Attila's meeting : the Vicar of Christ confronted the man who, from the 8th century onwards, would be called the "scourge of God". As a result of this meeting, Attila retreats with his entire army and withdraws to Pannonia. Rome and Italy are saved from the massacre, and the Roman-Christian civilization, which could have disappeared, continues.

The second case can only be valued positively by those who strive to judge the facts of the past with the criteria of the corresponding cultural context, an essential condition of any historical criticism that does not want to fall into ridicule. It is also about a status in which the Christian culture, with sixteen centuries of development, was about to be replaced by another, supported by the strength of a huge army. The only means of salvation was armed defense. In the face of the necessary union of forces, in many cases, private economic interests prevailed. The victory over the invader was possible thanks to the tenacity of one man: St. Pius V. And if today we can admire the cultural achievements of later centuries (including Don Quixote), it is thanks to Lepanto.

The third case is the best known: John Paul II and communism. I limit myself to transcribing a text by José Ramón Garitagoitia, whose doctoral thesis , El pensamiento ético-político de Juan Pablo II ( 2002), was published with a foreword by the last president of the USSR and award Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mikhail Gorbachev:

"The influence of the first Slavic Pope in history somehow accelerated the change of the status quo in his nation. From Poland the flame of freedom was transferred to the other countries on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Mikhail Gorbachev, one of the protagonists of those events, has acknowledged this. agreement In October 2004, while John Paul II was still alive, I received a letter from the last president of the USSR and University Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party: "I fully agree with you," wrote Gorbachev, "that His Holiness John Paul II played a sincere and active role in the whole process of the unification of Europe. And a little further on he affirmed: "He acts as a great contemporary politician who consistently pursues a victory: that of making humanistic principles the essence of every human society" (ABC, 10-11-2009)" (ABC, 10-11-2009).

When we praise the positive advances of Western civilization, we must do justice to all the people who have made them possible: scientists, thinkers, artists? And also to so many Pontiffs of the Catholic Church who, thanks to their love for God and others, their prestige and courage, were providential elements in the defense of the human and the progress of humanity.

It is too early to judge the social influence of Benedict XVI. In any case, it is evident that for years he has been helping us to remember, in continuity with his predecessors, the existence of truth and the capacity of human reason to know it. We are sure that, not many years from now, it will be possible to say that, thanks to the teachings of Benedict XVI, relativism, the cause of so much despair among young people, has lost its credit , and that everywhere there is a renewed desire to search seriously for the truth. The Church, always enlightened by the Holy Spirit, would once again prove to be source of progress, hope and joy for all people.