Easter Monday, April 21, 2025
I suppose one should not have a favorite pope, but I do. Francis captured my heart from the get go.
Perhaps it was because Jorge Borgoglio was South American, from Argentina. He thought and lived like someone from the Americas.
He loved immigrants and refugees. In his 12-year papacy, this cosmopolitan pope, who spoke seven languages, stood with those on the margins.
When he became pope, he moved into the Vatican Hotel rather than the lavish Apostolic Palace. He wore old orthotic shoes instead of the red papal slippers. He leaned towards simplicity, as much as one can in such a position. He was a breath of fresh air.
In Laudato si, his poetic encyclical on creation, Francis linked our treatment of the earth to our treatment of the poor. He said the poor suffer most with climate change.
In 2013, just after Pope Francis’ election, Houston General Presbyter Mike Cole and I took Houston’s Cardinal DiNardo to lunch to hear about his experience at the conclave, what it was like to elect a pope. As I listened to him recount his experience, it never occurred to me that he would have the opportunity to elect two popes. Although the 75-year-old Cardinal has retired as bishop, he is still an elector until he is 80. I would love to carry his bags for the upcoming conclave.
I told one Roman Catholic archbishop how much I appreciated Pope Francis, to which he replied, with a wink and a smile, “Yes, but is he Catholic?” It was an old Catholic joke, but it hit home. Francis was testing the boundaries and pushing for reform.
At the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, on the day Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Chapel, Pope Francis travelled to Sweden to commemorate the day with Lutherans. Francis presided over an ecumenical prayer service at the Lutheran Cathedral in Lund. He met with the female Archbishop of Sweden, Antje Jackelen. Drawing upon sixty years of fruitful Lutheran-Catholic dialog, Francis lauded Luther for protesting against corruption in the church and restoring the centrality of Scripture to the church.
But yes, Archbishop, Francis was Catholic. Although he pushed the boundaries, he did not change Catholic doctrine or tradition with regards to celibacy, women priests, or gay priests.
Although he did not change Roman Catholic policy with regards to LGBT folks, he spoke out against laws criminalizing homosexuality and supported same sex unions. When asked about a proportedly gay priest he said, “Who am I to judge?” Strong words coming from the leader of the Catholic Church.
Throughout his life, Francis struggled with lung disease. Part of his lung was removed when he was much younger. Early this morning, Pope Francis died at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Maria at the age of 88. It is fitting that he died on Easter Monday, the season we celebrate resurrection and new life.
“On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!”
—Pope Francis, Easter Message, April 20, 2025
“You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That’s how prayer works.”
—Pope Francis
