‘Diplomacy is the art of hope.” Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger quoted Pope Benedict XVI in what must have been the final public address he made, just weeks before his death. It was at the iconic — to use an overused word, but because it’s true in this case — Al Smith Dinner for charity in New York. It wasn’t the first time Kissinger was in attendance — he spoke in 1974 and attended most of the dinners ever since. For myriad reasons, it’s important that Kissinger was the keynote speaker, and we should not forget.
Kissinger spoke that night and then shortly thereafter died, at 100. Just across the border from New York in Canada, Medical Aid in Dying is the medical culture that encourages assisted suicide for those suffering from old age — and also for people battling depression or homelessness. One’s life doesn’t have more value because one is “high-performing,” but if you watch the Al Smith Dinner remarks, you can see that Kissinger clearly wasn’t in his prime — and it was late at night — but he was amazing. I thought of the late John Paul II, showing the world the vitality of his life even as he was dying.
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