UNITED STATES
The Week

Jason Berry

A Vatican conference recently drew mayors from cities across the globe to discuss climate change and modern slavery. The event marked a new turn in Pope Francis’ evolution as a global leader — and as the rare pope with an activist foreign policy.

Speaking in Spanish and without notes, Francis closed the conference by giving praise to the politicians and asking their help in the face of “growing bands of poverty” around urban areas, which he called “a worldwide phenomenon,” according to a Vatican transcript.

“Why do people come to large cities, to the outskirts of large cities, to the slums, shanty towns and favelas?” the pope asked. “It is simply because the rural world does not offer them opportunities.”

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who attended the conference, affirmed Francis’ message in an email to GroundTruth: “With more and more people moving…