“I believe it is important for the figure of the Pope to be someone who is heard. It is not enough to speak; one must be heard, there is a big difference between speaking and being heard, and this Pope has achieved that through his authenticity on one hand, his simplicity on the other, his closeness, and then the reception that his word also found,” stated Luís Montenegro. He emphasized the need for “someone who has this capacity, this impact, which is not always easy and not immediate.”
Luís Montenegro was speaking to Lusa and Rádio Renascença in Rome, following the funeral of Pope Francis.
“I believe he was remarkable, but history teaches us that these spaces end up being filled, and we hope that other figures might emerge with new profiles, new charisms, but also with impact. I do not want to hold a pessimistic view that after a Pope of such dimension, another will not come, perhaps with different ideas, but with an equal ability to make the world think, evolve, and awaken to good decisions and not just good prayers, but also good decision-making,” he said.
Regarding the possibility of the next Pope being one of the four Portuguese cardinals participating in the conclave, the Prime Minister considered it would be “great news” and highlighted that they are all “excellent representatives,” but he refrained from further comments.
“I don’t even want to say anything because, as we know, there is this saying that ‘he who enters as Pope leaves as cardinal,’ so I will not comment to avoid jinxing,” he remarked.
Speaking about Pope Francis, Luís Montenegro described him as “a unique figure” and highlighted the “close relationship” he had with Portugal, “which was built, not something that accompanied him all his life, it was something that emerged from his pontificate and his visits to Portugal.”
The delegation representing the Portuguese state at Pope Francis’ funeral included the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel.
In statements to Lusa and Rádio Renascença, the President of the Assembly of the Republic described the funeral as “a moment of homage to a unique figure, who deserved just recognition from thousands of people and also from those who have power in the world.”
“I hope they follow the example of his legacy and that they too, those who command the world, can take concrete actions, concrete initiatives that lead to what was always the mission of the Pope, which was peace,” he stressed.
José Pedro Aguiar-Branco noted that the presence of over 150 official foreign delegations showed “the great importance this pontificate had for the world, in the name of peace, in the name of fraternity, mercy, but also through concrete actions he developed throughout his pontificate.”
The President of the Parliament also considered that the Pope “genuinely always conveyed to everyone a relationship of closeness, transparency, being genuine,” and during the ceremony in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, one felt “that emotion, that feeling of closeness from someone who truly touched the heart, of everyone, of everyone, everyone, everyone.”
