In the style of St Francis of Assisi, whose name he took as his own papal name, the Pope lived very modestly. He shunned the grand papal home in the Vatican and chose instead a small two-room apartment in a guest house. He wore battered brown shoes. He would frequently invite his guards to breakfast and often dine in the Vatican workers’ canteen.

Before he became a priest, Francis was a bouncer in Buenos Aires. Perhaps that’s why his approach to the priesthood was very different to other priests. His central aim was to embrace the poor. He saw the Church and his faith through their eyes. Not surprisingly, they called him the Bishop of the Slums.

It probably also underlies one of the most amazing things he did which the world barely knew about. After the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023, it’s reported that “He would make nightly phone calls to the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, to offer prayers and words of encouragement to both Christians and Muslims sheltering within its walls.”

The fact so few knew of this is perhaps typical of Francis. He did it because he wanted to. Not because he was seeking credit or publicity. I’m more surprised the few who knew did not make a greater effort to ensure it was better known.

Francis was the first Pope to soften the Catholic Church’s attitude to homosexuality. “Who am I to judge?”, he famously asked. He was also the first to believe that divorced or re-married Catholics could receive the sacrament. Even though four conservative Cardinals publicly opposed him, he did not waver.

Of course, the Pope was traditional and conservative on issues like contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage and transgender recognition. As I was told, he was a very liberal Catholic Pope but he was still a Catholic Pope. That wasn’t said to limit praise but to illustrate his willingness to push the boundaries.

All of this points to one simple fact. Pope Francis cared about people. The position he took on the issue of immigrants and refugees proves this. His first formal visit as Pope was to the island of Lampedusa to meet illegal migrants from North Africa. Weeks before he fell ill, he criticised President Trump’s policies linking illegal immigrants with criminality. I can’t think of any other head of State who went so far.

The late Pope was also the first to formally enter into a dialogue with Islam. He held an open-air mass in the United Arab Emirates, the first ever on the Arabian peninsula. This act of inter-religious fraternity was attacked by conservatives. He simply ignored their position.

There are aspects of the Pope’s life where, arguably, he failed. He was not particularly adept at handling allegations of corruption in the Vatican, even when they concerned the Secretariat of State. Cardinal Angelo Becciu may have been imprisoned in 2023, but the wider problem was not really tackled. But then none of his predecessors was any better.

However, Francis may have ensured the Catholic Church will continue as he left it. Of the 135 Cardinals eligible to vote for his successor, 108 were appointed by him. Of them, 53 are European but 82 are from Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America and Oceania. So, will his successor be another non-European? The odds suggest he could be.

Karan Thapar is the author of Devil’s Advocate: The Untold Story. The views expressed are personal