A pope who spoke for the poor and marginalised
Pope Francis did enough to rile the conservatives.
Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, who passed away on Easter Monday, took his regnal name from Saint Francis of Assisi, the 13th-century mystic who saw Christ in the poor, and lived up to the name. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to parents of Italian origin who had fled their home country to escape Fascism, took stewardship of the Vatican at a sensitive time with the clergy coming under the shadow of multiple scandals and navigated the church through choppy waters. His papacy was radical in many ways, though not radical enough for many who expected the first pope from South America to steer the Vatican away from many of its traditional stances. However, Pope Francis did enough to rile the conservatives and traditionalists, who found his advocacy for peace and economic equality, support for same-sex couples and immigrants, outreach to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, and support for climate crisis mitigation uncomfortable. He ordered action against priests accused of sexual abuse and changed the church law to end impunity for the offenders.
Pope Francis’s election in 2013 was in extraordinary circumstances when Pope Benedict XVI decided to resign from the papal office, a first in 600 years. The two popes could not have been more different, but Pope Francis viewed Pope Benedict XVI as an elder statesman and adviser though he reviewed many of the latter’s decisions. The football-loving Pope Francis, who once worked as a bouncer in a club, preferred to “live in the community” than reside in the official papal residence at the Vatican. The emphasis on economic justice – he famously said that money must serve, not rule – in his teachings furthered the impression of a father leaning to the Left. Having lived through the horrors of a dictatorship in Argentina characterised by many disappearances, including of radical priests, his vocal support for human rights was not surprising. In a polarising time, Pope Francis was a rare moral presence. His absence will be felt beyond the Catholic community.
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