The whole world is mourning the death of Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday (April 21), during the 12th year of his papacy. A vacuum has been created and we wait for it to be filled in.
What was special about Pope Francis? There are many firsts connected to his papacy. When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis on 13th March 2013, the world was immediately captivated by his charismatic personality, his simplicity, his sense of closeness, and the fresh, and frankly, unusual papal vocabulary he often employed. He brought in a string of ‘firsts’ for the Catholic Church. Not only had the Church experienced the first papal resignation in 600 years, with Benedict XVI’s historic decision to step down from the papacy, but the Church also got its first Jesuit pope and its first Latin American, and indeed first non-European pope. Thanks to the growth of social media platforms over the past decade or so, Pope Francis also is the first real ‘digital’ Pope, in the sense that he had an account on most major social networks and therefore, had a higher global visibility than most of his predecessors.
He was a man of prayer and compassion, remarked His Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias, the Archbishop Emeritus of Mumbai. In one of his interviews after the death of Pope Francis, he said; “The Holy Spirit sends us the leader that we need at different times …When Pope Francis began the Papacy all of us did not know what to expect as he was not much known outside of Rome, not even in Rome with the Curia. But as I look back at these last twelve years … what an impact he has made on the Church and on the world”.
Cardinal Gracias has been one of Pope Francis’s closest advisors, having been a member of the Council of Cardinals since it began in 2013. “I felt that Pope Francis was a person of deep faith, of prayer,” he added.
“He has been fearless and courageous. When you look at the world scene, I think he has maintained the integrity of the Gospel. He preached the Gospel undiluted. He has been faithful to what he sees in prayer. He was not a respecter of popular opinion. It was just what the Church has got to do,” the Cardinal said. He also said Pope Francis had a compassionate heart to those in need. He didn’t want the Church to be a castle protecting itself but always reaching out to those in need. He also remarked that Pope Francis consistently tried to see what our Lord would have wanted of the Church today.
We have here some of his oft-repeated phrases or quotes.
Don’t forget to pray for me
One of Pope Francis’s most repeated lines of all time was his request for prayers at the end of pretty much any public speech or event; it was his classic tagline at the end of his weekly Sunday Angelus address, telling faithful gathered “don’t forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and goodbye!” before stepping out of view.
Don’t forget the poor
This phrase was technically not his but was rather that of Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes who was sitting next to Cardinal Bergoglio when the final vote was cast and he was elected Pope. Among the applause Cardinal Claudio whispered in to his ear not to forget the Poor. This in turn inspired Cardinal Bergoglio to choose the papal name “Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, who was known as “the poor man of Assisi”.
The smell of the sheep
This is yet another famous papal soundbite that Pope Francis continually recycled through his time in office. It was for priests to take on “the smell of the sheep”, being pastors close to their people, rather than administrator governing from a stale, cold office.
He first uttered the phrase In a Chrism Mass homily barely two weeks after his election in March 2013, telling priests in an off-the-cuff remark during his homily, “This is what I am asking you, be shepherds with the smell of sheep.”
This one neatly sums up Pope Francis’s entire approach to pastoral care and practice, and it quickly set the tone for his expectations of the pastors, both priests and bishops.
Church as a field hospital
During one of his interviews with Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro, Pope Francis said, “The thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the Church as a field hospital after battle.”
In this one soundbite, Pope Francis painted his entire vision for the Church’s role, and that of its pastors, in the world.
Throwaway culture
This was a constant refrain for Pope Francis, who at the beginning of his pontificate defined it as when human life or persons are not seen as primary concern and value to be respected and safeguarded. In his homilies and public speeches, he has mentioned it very forcefully and condemned not only condemned wasteful consumerism, but naked capital interest and the pursuit of profit at the expense of people, values, and communities. He also used this term in reference to vast categories of people including the unborn children lost through abortion, which he also likened to hiring “a hitman”; the elderly ones abandoned by family; youth who face unemployment and lack of opportunities; the environment, and the poor.
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Incisive feminine presence
From the beginning of his pontificate, he was saying that there is an urgent need for what he said was “a more widespread and incisive female presence” in the church. He made it a reality by appointing women to prominent positions within the Roman Curia, including several department heads which were all held by cardinals in the past.
Please, thank you and I’m sorry
Another saying that has attracted the world was, when in audience in 2015, giving three key words to any healthy marriage: “please”, “thank you,” and “I’m sorry.” For all of us, he mentioned, “open up the road to a good family life”, but cautioned that while it looks simple, they are “not easy to put into practice,” requiring an ability for self-reflection and an ability to swallow one’s pride.
Pope Francis, the Pope of Mercy
The editorial director of Vatican newspaper, “L’Osservatore Romano”, said that the underlying theme of his 12 year-long pontificate is Mercy. “God’s mercy is our liberation and our happiness. We live for mercy, and we cannot afford to be without mercy. It is the air that we breathe. We are too poor to set any conditions. We need to forgive, because we need to be forgiven.” If there is a message that has most characterized Pope Francis’ pontificate and is destined to remain, it is that of mercy.
Mercy, he said, is “the air we breathe,” meaning that it is what we need most, without which it would be impossible to live.
The entire pontificate of Jorge Mario Bergoglio was carried out under the banner of this message, which is the heart of Christianity. The Pope who came “from the ends of the earth” Argentina, did not change the teaching of the two-thousand-year-old Christian tradition, but simply put mercy at the centre of it in a new way, thus changing the perception many had of the Catholic Church.
Everyone, everyone, everyone
Another key hallmark of his pontificate was his emphasis on “openness” which was marked by his open approach to inclusive processes within the Church. The spirit of openness was manifested in many of the pastoral decisions and initiatives such as treatment of divorced and remarried individuals.
The same Idea inspired his unwavering efforts to foster interreligious and ecumenical dialogue, seeking reconciliation and mutual understanding among Christian denominations and other faiths.
The poor and migrants
His constant concern for the poor and the marginalized prompted him to establish, in 2017, a special Day for the Poor in which he hosted special meals with the homeless in the audience hall of Paul VI. He also spoke out boldly on the phenomenon of migration with the four verbs “welcome, protect, promote, and integrate,” giving guidelines to address what he termed “one of the greatest tragedies of this century.”
Commitment to peace
He never thought that his pontificate would be beset with wars. Ending these wars was a constant concern he addressed with impassioned appeals for peace. His daily calls to the parish priest of the parish of Holy Family in Gaza was very notable. He made that usual call even the previous day of his death. The ongoing conflicts in many places can be resolved, he believed, only by mediating “honourable compromises” for all sides.
Peace was a goal for which Pope Francis constantly asked for prayers. He established days of fasting and prayer for Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Holy Land, involving the faithful worldwide. He organized historic moments such as the planting of an olive tree in the Vatican Gardens on 8 June 2014, with the Presidents of Israel and Palestine, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas.
Pope Francis repeatedly called on world leaders to dialogue and work for peace, saying everyone will answer before God for the tears shed among the people. He denounced the flourishing arms trade, proposing the use of military spending for a global fund to fight hunger. He called for the building of bridges instead of walls, urging the prioritization of the common good over military strategies, sometimes facing criticism and misinterpretation for these words.
His c”osene”s to people was very visible especially during the Covid pandemic. Humanity was suffering, but the Pope spoke of hope and fraternity: “We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together.”
If there is a message that has most characterized Pope Francis’ pontificate and is destined to remain, it is that of mercy. The life of Pope Francis challenges each one of us that we can walk an extra mile to show mercy.
He is one who, as shepherd of the Church, brought so much that we as Christians had forgotten about. And what is it? Pope Francis, a man of deep mercy and compassion, showed both in words and action that it was mercy. He is one who brought the gospel of Jesus, the gospel of love, of compassion, of mercy back into the church and into the world.
Man of candid honesty
He was a man who called a spade a spade when it came to matters of social injustice, when it came to matters of caring for our common home, when it came to matters concerning the poor and the migrants. He was the conscience of the church but he was also of the entire world. A man who was deeply loved, deeply followed.
A mentor to all
His love for the family and the great synod on family brought so much of joy and understanding of family life in a better way but more so opening the church to become pastorally sensitive, pastorally intelligent and pastorally caring for people of the world, especially families. He not only cared for families with the joy of the gospel, he wanted to share it now with the young people and his synod on the young people brought the whole world to listen to the pain points of the young. He will definitely be known as a pope who listened to the cries of the young people.
Christus Vivit is a beautiful teaching in which he challenges young people with those beautiful words that you are God’s chosen ones, the now of God. That is what he called them and he challenged young people not to be just sitting on their couches but to be actively involved in the Church, in the evangelization and to be courageous missionaries.
He brought to the world a whole new understanding of mortal sins and the six sins that he talked of recently and he himself asked mercy for it. It is something that you and I definitely have to be part of, He talked of mortal sins against peace wherever there is war, we are against peace. He spoke of sins against the poor, he spoke of sins against women, he spoke of sins against every form of abuse not just sexual abuse but abuse of power of authority, of money which very often we put aside. He talked of sins against the environment. He also talked of sin against synodality where we think that we can do it alone. No, he wants us to walk together to build the world a better place to live in.
May God in his infinite goodness grant Pope Francis eternal reward.
Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him
May his soul rest in peace.
Most Rev. Jose Mukala, Bishop Emeritus,
Diocese of Kohima
