Beatriz Alonso de Medina
Do you know who wrote the following quote and where it appears?
“It is not for us to master all the tides of the world, but to do what lies within our power for the good of the days we have been given.”
They are the words of Gandalf from 'The Lord of the Rings' by J. R. R. Tolkien. But here’s the twist—Pope Leo XIV used this exact quote in his new encyclical 'Magnifica Humanitas', specifically in the fifth chapter, titled “The Culture of Power and the Civilization of Love.”
But the British Catholic writer is not the only unexpected reference in the encyclical. There are many others.
Among its pages, the encyclical cites Guernica by Pablo Picasso, Symphony No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven, and even references films. One of them is Schindler's List, which it describes as...
“An invitation not to surrender the past to oblivion.”
The pope uses all these examples as works that oppose dehumanization and keep historical memory alive and inspired.
Leo XIV's debut encyclical reveals an intellectual library rarely seen in a pontifical document. It also cites the philosopher Hannah Arendt, who warned about the danger of confusing truth and fiction.
Another reference includes Viktor Frankl, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camps, about whom it says:
“Viktor Frankl rightly observed that man is the being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz, but also the being who entered them with head held high…”
But that’s not all. There are other honorable mentions that are surprising and evocative: Maria Montessori, creator of the famous educational method; Dorothy Day, journalist and activist arrested several times for protesting war and poverty; Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her defense of the environment.
Through all of this, we see a little more clearly who Leo XIV is—a pope who blends literature, philosophy, and art with Catholic teaching, and who, having a lucid grasp of the 20th century, is equipped to tackle the great challenges of the 21st century.
