Pope Leo reflects on power, democracy, and the international order
April 15, 2026
“Catholic social teaching regards power not as an end in itself, but as a means ordered toward the common good,” Pope Leo XIV wrote in a message to members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. “This implies that the legitimacy of authority depends not on the accumulation of economic or technological strength, but on the wisdom and virtue with which it is exercised for the common good.”
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The pontifical academy’s members are gathering in a plenary session from April 14-16 to discuss “The Uses of Power Legitimacy, Democracy and the Rewriting of the International Order.” In discussing wisdom and virtue, Pope Leo explained:
Wisdom enables us to discern and pursue the true and the good, rather than apparent goods and vainglory, amid the circumstances of daily life. This wisdom is inseparable from the moral virtues, which strengthen our desire to promote the common good. In particular, we know that justice and fortitude are indispensable for sound decision-making and for putting decisions into practice. Temperance also proves essential for the legitimate use of authority, for a true understanding of temperance restrains inordinate self-exaltation and acts as a guardrail against the abuse of power.
“This understanding of legitimate power finds one of its highest expressions in authentic democracy,” the Pope continued. “Far from being a mere procedure, this type of democracy recognizes the dignity of every person and calls each citizen to participate responsibly in the pursuit of the common good.”
“Democracy remains healthy, however, only when rooted in the moral law and a true vision of the human person,” he added. “Lacking this foundation, it risks becoming either a majoritarian tyranny or a mask for the dominance of economic and technological elites. The same principles that guide the exercise of authority within nations must likewise inform the international order—a truth that is particularly important to recall at a time when strategic rivalries and shifting alliances are reshaping global relations. We must recall that a just and stable international order cannot emerge from the mere balance of power or from a purely technocratic logic.”
The Pontiff then cited his predecessors as he spoke of “the need for updated institutions and a universal authority, marked by the principle of subsidiarity.” Turning to St. Augustine, he wrote:
In the final analysis, when earthly powers threaten the tranquillitas ordinis [tranquility of order]—the classic Augustinian definition of peace—we must draw hope from the Kingdom of God, which, though not of this world, sheds light upon the affairs of this world and reveals their eschatological meaning ... It is precisely this logic of charity that must animate history, for human activity inspired by charity helps to shape the “earthly city” in unity and peace, rendering it however imperfectly—an anticipation and a prefiguration of the “City of God.”
The Pontiff’s message, dated April 9, was released on April 14.
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