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In Britain the gap between our actual political horizons and the need for radical change is deep and wide. It is that gap, and not the word radical, that ought to  inspire fear. “Radical”

means getting to the roots of a problem, not twisting, turning and tweaking as things get predictably worse. The fear comes from sloppy use of the word as a synonym for extremism, used to

shut down all debate.   Compared to secular leaders, religious leaders have the advantage of a traditionally accepted way of highlighting the perils of business as usual and of expounding

radical approaches. The religious code word for this form of discourse is “prophetic”. It is a word that implies not just authority for seeing into the future but, more importantly, divine

approval of the prophet’s broad-brush account of what is wrong and ethical prescriptions for changing direction and putting things right.   Pope Francis’ book _Let Us Dream_, published last

year as a user-friendly and personalised synopsis of his lengthy and more formal encyclical _Fratelli Tutti_, is an excellent example of the prophetic mode. But his little book has proved to

be much more than that. The pandemic provided a context in which prophetic words and ideas coming from an admired religious leader, speaking informally and intimately at a time of acute

uncertainty and unprecedented upheaval, would be heard and considered. The secular press carried respectful reviews. Waves of appreciative discussion washed through Catholic social media. 

There was none of the usual complaints of “the Church shouldn’t meddle in politics”, though the book described what politics should be about but wasn’t.  The subtitle of _Let us Dream_ is

_The Path to a Better Future_. Not an entirely accurate description of its content. Popes do not prescribe in practical detail how to get from A to B. They provide counsel on where to find

and how to read the signposts. The religious code for this is “reading the signs of the times”, or “discernment” for short. Choosing pathways, turning principles and plans into practice is

the role of politicians, civil servants, policy-oriented academics and experts in various disciplines. It should be achieved in close collaboration with civil society.  The remarkable

feature of Francis’ brand of prophetic writing is that it dovetails with others who start off from where he, of necessity as a religious leader, has to end. For example, the American

political scientist Robert Putnam and the social entrepreneur Shaylyn Romney Garrett’s _How We Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do it again_ and Jon Cruddas MP’s _The Dignity of

Labour_ go into the detail of what it will take to make absolutely vital changes. Tellingly the distinctly secular political and cultural weekly, the _New Statesman,_ asked the former

Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to review both these books. The gap between the reality of our politics here in UK and the radical change  imagined by Pope Francis seems

unbridgeable. _Let us Dream_ promotes change emerging from the margins and led by popular movements. Not to be confused with populism. It is an understandable view, given that the Pope is

Argentinian and given the history of Latin America. We get a glimpse of possibilities from the Black Lives Matter movement. But, at present, putting together a powerful, sustainable

coalition for radical change in a British context is a daunting prospect. Progressive politics traditionally, culturally, aims at incremental changes. Finding an umbrella mobilising theme

would be a beginning.  Perhaps a Campaign to Defend our Democracy. There is something similar in South Africa.   In Britain it would require pulling together scattered, legal, human rights,

environmental and civic initiatives.   _  _ Britain faces a particular difficulty in coming to terms with two overwhelming aspects of present reality. Firstly, we cannot and should not

return to the injustice, anger and division of the old normal. But it is an inevitable reaction to the pandemic to want a return to normality. Secondly, we are in denial about our history. 

We want a brave and glorious past, a compensation for recent decline. “History is what was, not what we want it to have been”, Pope Francis says in _Let us Dream_ “and when we throw an

ideological blanket over it, we make it so much harder to see what in our present needs to change in order to move to a better future”.   Afforded a large Parliamentary majority, those who

have most control over the past, present and future today — the Johnson government — demonstrate the paradox of a British form of authoritarianism undermining the British structure of

governance, hard-won in the past. Less accountability, more control by the few for the few, more greed and self-interest, appear as the change they have in mind. Governing in this manner

requires negligible concern for truth and thus negligible purchase on reality. Its vision of a better future is refracted through the short-term good of the Party. An obvious symptom of this

authoritarianism is that serious challenge, within and without the inner circle of the Conservative Party, has been, and will be, punished: by expulsions, resignations or sacking. But at

the same time, against the background of a future of devastating climate change, a significant and growing consensus is emerging about the urgency of radical economic transformation and the

social and political reforms that must accompany it. This is a consensus that unites religious and secular thinkers. _Laudato Si_, Francis’ 2015 encyclical, grounding the Christian Green

movement in the Bible and Revelation and calling for “swift and united action”, provides a supportive religious commentary on the report of the UN’s 2009 Sustainable Development Commission. 

We need to go back to the 1960s, when the Catholic emphasis on human dignity met the human rights movement for such a confluence of thinking.   The Pope’s dream is as radical as it gets at a

personal and social level. Yet he is not a voice crying in the wilderness. But if the fate of Martin Luther King’s dream is anything to go by, the virtue of patience, recommended by Pope

Francis in _Let Us Dream_, will be indispensable.  Meanwhile, as the disembodied voice warns those waiting expectantly on the London Underground platform: “Mind the gap.” A MESSAGE FROM

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