Angela Merkel's memoirs: The secret tip the Pope gave Merkel for handling Trump

 

 Angela Merkel was born on 17 July 1954, is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 2000 to 2018. During her chancellorship, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union (EU) and the most powerful woman in the world.

Following her retirement, Merkel has written a memoir called Freedom, with her longtime assistant and adviser, Beate Baumann. Angela Merkel spoke out about her experiences with world leaders during her time in office.

According to Angela Merkel herself, Pope Francis gave her an important tip in 2017. As German Chancellor, she met the Pope shortly before the G20 summit in Hamburg, according to the CDU politician in her autobiography. According to Merkel's account, the meeting of the 20 most important industrialized and emerging countries was not under a good star at the time, partly because of the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement announced by President Donald Trump.

In her memoir, extracts of which were published in German weekly Die Zeit, the long-serving German chancellor detailed her difficulties in dealing with Trump, who, she said, appeared to be fascinated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other authoritarian leaders.

Read more: Angela Merkel's Memoirs: A candid critique of Trump

Pope Francis, when Merkel asked him in general terms for advice on dealing with people “with fundamentally different views”, immediately understood she was referring to Trump and his desire to quit the climate accords, she wrote.

“Bend, bend, bend, but make sure it doesn’t break,” he told Merkel, according to her account.

Pope Francis was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until his death. He was the first pope from the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.