I recognise a mistake that has been made in recent years, and which continues today: political, economic, social, housing and employment decisions, i… - Angelo De Donatis

Q: What should be the priorities of the next pope? A: It will be important to continue along the two paths traced by Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The first concerns the presence of God in society. The relationship between man and God must once again become central. Imbalances arise when one of the two terms of the relationship is eliminated. It is no coincidence that John Paul II observed that a world without God would be against man. The second path concerns man in contemporary society: we need to understand who man is and work in such a way that the body, psyche and spirit – three essential dimensions – are not neglected.

Our prayer today is a sign of vitality and communion in the Church. In a change of epoch, full of hardships and historical facts that have shocked us, we want to testify, as Benedict repeated several times at the beginning of his pontificate, that the Church is alive, she is alive because Christ is alive, he is truly risen.

Intervistatore: Quali dovranno essere le priorità del prossimo papa? Cardinale De Donatis: Sarà importante continuare in due solchi tracciati rispettivamente da papa Benedetto XVI e da papa Francesco. Il primo riguarda la presenza di Dio nella società. La relazione tra l’uomo e Dio deve tornare a essere centrale. Gli squilibri nascono quando uno dei due termini della relazione viene eliminato. Non a caso Giovanni Paolo II osservava che un mondo senza Dio sarebbe contro l’uomo. Il secondo solco riguarda l’uomo nella società contemporanea: bisogna capire chi è l’uomo e operare in maniera tale che corpo, psiche e spirito – tre dimensioni essenziali – non siano trascurate.