Whether you were awake at midnight on April 26 or prudently set your video recorder to tape the six-plus hours of network coverage, the Vatican funeral of His Holiness Pope Francis was watched worldwide, with countless tributes from global leaders befitting of his office, but moreover of his profound impact on believers and nonbelievers.
Always portrayed as a man of deep humility, unshakable faith, and quiet strength, Pope Francis preferred to describe himself as a shepherd and a pastor with a message of faith that touched the hearts of all peoples. The repeated theme of the funeral accentuated the shepherd.
Pope Francis was intent on changing the image of the papacy from that of a regal monarch to that of a pastor, referring to himself as the Bishop of Rome. First and foremost, he was a minister of the people, and he called on his priests and bishops to be the same. When they were not, he would excoriate them, calling them “airport bishops” or “peacock priests.” He believed their jobs were to be shepherds and servants of the people, changing the notion of how we view the church and, hopefully, how the world views the church as one of authenticity that continues to speak to the needs of people.
He did not want to erect barriers to faith, but to encourage it. He said the church must not be like a customs house where you have to pay a toll to get in. It must be a family that welcomes everyone. This was especially true of his views on performing communion, which he believed was not a prize for the perfect but a generous medicine and food for the weak who are on a journey. During his pontificate, he opened up the possibility for divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion, previously barred from doing so. It was all part of his vision for the church, where everyone would receive communion.
Local Leaders Remember the Pope
“Here in Pasadena, a community rich in diversity and spirit,” commented Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, “Pope Francis’s call for unity, understanding, and service to others resonated deeply. Whether it was his advocacy for the poor, his insistence on the dignity of every human being, or his unwavering care for our planet, he reminded us that leadership is about lifting others.
“On behalf of the City of Pasadena, I extend our heartfelt condolences to the Catholic community and to all who found hope in his words and inspiration in his example. May Pope Francis rest in peace, and may his light continue to guide us forward.”
Rev. Dr. Amy Aitken who is Pastor of First United Methodist Church (FUMC), Pasadena, a church of the Reconciling Ministries Network that welcomes all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, age, physical or mental capacity, and education, socio-economic or marital status commented:
“Pope Francis was a humble, deeply faithful voice for the poor and vulnerable within the Roman Catholic Church, as well as beyond the walls of the church. In his leadership, he modeled a compassionate and grace-filled witness of Christ-like ministry. While our traditions within Christianity did not always align theologically or in practice, I have always respected his generosity of spirit, passion, and commitment to both justice and joy. May he rest in peace, and may his legacy continue in the church.”
He was “such a great, beloved, profound and relational leader,” said Rev. Mina Nau-Mahe, Associate Pastor at FUMC, Pasadena. “His leadership was rooted in an intersectional social justice empathy. He led with fierce love, making the marginalized visible reminding us that every soul, a beloved child of God, deserves grace. His actions advocated for those whose voices were often silenced. He showed us that divine love is expressed through service to the most vulnerable, reminding us that every life carries profound worth. He will truly be missed.”
During the Vatican service, 92-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, delivered the Homily, which served as an effective eulogy for the Pontiff. He remarked how, over the past 12 years, Pope Francis sustained Catholics and others worldwide with the certainty of faith. From the pulpit, he extended greetings to the many heads of state, heads of government, and officials who came from many countries to express their affection, veneration and esteem for the late Holy Father.
The Cardinal reminded the crowd of 250,000 in St. Peter’s Square of the final image of the Pope of Easter Sunday, when, despite his serious health problems, the Pope gave his last blessing from the balcony of St Peter’s, choosing “to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly life.”
Becoming Pope Francis
Pope Francis was elected in March 2013 by the College of Cardinals to succeed Benedict XVI. His papacy was enriched by 21 years of pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. In the Spirit of St Francis of Assisi, the Pope accepted governance of the church by creating direct contact with individuals and people, eager to grow close to everyone, but especially to the marginalized.
“He was a pope among the people with an open heart towards everyone,” said Cardinal Battista Re. “With his characteristic vocabulary and language rich in images and metaphors, he always sought to shed light on the problems of our time with the wisdom of the gospel.”
Pope Francis had an informal way of addressing everyone, even those far from the church, sharing the anxieties, sufferings, and hopes of the time with encouraging messages that were sensitive to moral and spiritual sensibilities.
His first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, is considered a cornerstone for understanding his pontificate and its priorities. It sets a very clear direction for the church to revitalize its mission of evangelization amid a period of perceived uncertainty.
The guiding thread of his mission was also the conviction that the church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open. He often used the image of Christ as a field hospital after a battle in which many were wounded, a church determined to take care of people’s problems and the great anxieties that tear the contemporary world apart, a church capable of bending down to every person, regardless of their beliefs or condition, and healing their wounds.
Supreme ‘Pontiff’ comes from the Latin term ‘pontifex,’ meaning ‘bridge builder.’
His gestures and exhortations in favor of refugees and displaced persons, as well as his work on behalf of the poor, were constant. In February 2016, he famously celebrated mass on the border between Mexico and the United States, one of his 47 arduous apostolic journeys. There, he admonished President Trump for his views on immigration.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” said Pope Francis at the time. “This is not in the gospel.”
Pope Francis consistently placed the gospel of mercy at the center, in contrast to what he called “the culture of waste.” He often spoke of “fraternity,” a theme that ran through his pontificate with vibrant tones. In his encyclical letters, he sought to revive a global aspiration for fraternity.
In 2019, during his trip to the United Arab Emirates, Pope Francis signed the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, a landmark agreement created by the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, promoting interreligious dialogue and collaboration.
It fosters a culture of mutual respect and understanding among people of different faiths, emphasizing the importance of compassion, solidarity, and fraternity. The document also urges leaders to promote peace and justice and to protect all human beings, especially the most vulnerable.
The Pope as Environmentalist
Of the many encyclicals, Apostolic Exhortations, and open letters that Pope Francis produced during his twelve-year pontificate, none made as much of an impact as Laudato si’. Published in 2015, this encyclical letter was the first ever written by a Pope on the subject of the environment, and it went on to make waves both inside and outside the church.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the document for its “moral voice,” while the Indian novelist Pankaj Mishra called it “arguably the most important piece of intellectual criticism in our time.”
Laudato si’ also impacted policy. The encyclical is often credited with helping to build consensus in the run-up to the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, at which 196 countries signed a treaty pledging to keep global warming to below 2°C.
Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice, imploring peace and calling for negotiation to find possible solutions to discord, “because war,” he said, “only results in the death of people, the destruction of hospitals and schools. War always leaves the world worse than it was before. It is always a painful and tragic defeat for everyone.”
He famously said it’s not God who gets tired of forgiving. It’s we who get tired of asking for forgiveness, and he frequently concluded his speeches and meetings by saying, “Do not forget to pray for me.” At his funeral, the crowd sang and responded to the ‘Litany of the Saints,’ which asks a long list of 73 saints to pray for the Pope with the repeated chant ‘Orate Pro Eo.”
Pray for him. Lord, hear our prayer.
