I was saddened to learn about the death of Pope Francis. While not a practicing Catholic, it is tragic when a spirit such as his is taken from us. While he may be gone, we should remain hopeful that his legacy will continue, and that his example will inspire both the clergy who are tasked with determining his replacement, and the faithful who continue to live and pray and believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
I can't say I always agreed with Pope Francis. In some ways, he disappointed me in a similar fashion as Barrack Obama. Both represented significant firsts in history, Obama as the first African American President, Francis as the first Jesuit pope. And both held great promise to alter, for the good, the larger meaning of the office to which they were elected.
Don't get me wrong, I believe both changed their respective domains significantly, yet I feel that each fell short of the promise I held for them. Whether due to the sheer difficulty in altering the direction of such diverse entities, or the constant battle against the forces that defend the established status quo, I was not satisfied with the reality as compared to the hoped for vision.
Of course, this is also a reflection of my personal demon, lack of patience at the pace of change. And further, my chagrin at the American electorate and the Catholic lay community, for their hesitancy, at best, fear, at worse, to embrace the change represented by the two leaders.
In Pope Francis' case, his push to reach out to people often marginalized, if not outright ostracized and condemned, in an attempt to broaden the tent of the Catholic community, specifically the LGBTQ+ community, but also those Catholics who were divorced, marked a drastic change from his predecessors. Yet, he fell short of my hopes that he would bring the Catholic Church into the 21st century (or perhaps even just the 20th century) by altering its prohibition of birth control methods other than rhythm and withdrawal before ejaculation, allowing women a more active role in the sacraments, and stepping back from the belief that sex between members of the same sex are "acts of depravity."
Of course, even just considering such drastic changes to such a stagnant religion could be considered earth shattering. Problem is that it seems clear he was never going to take such steps, always falling short of real change.
Still, his more aggressive stance concerning the treatment of immigrants was laudable, especially his directness in calling the Trump administration's mass deportation plans not consistent with the teachings of Christ who emphasized treating all people with respect. While all popes advocated for immigrants, after all, wasn't Jesus an immigrant himself, Francis specifically called America's current treatment of immigrants to task, didn't just hide his disdain for those policies in generalities.
And certainly, Pope Francis seemed far more accessible to the masses by mingling with them at every opportunity. His final weekend, Easter weekend, was marked by ceremonially washing the feet of everyday people, not just cardinals or other members of the Church's hierarchy.
As is the case for President, I often wonder why someone would want to be pope. It is a no win situation in that whatever policies one adopts, whatever traditions one attempts to change, whatever direction one leads towards, half of the constituents, or flock, will embrace, and half will resist.
While in the case of a presidency there is a chance for the populace to alter their choice, once chosen as pope, the job lasts until death. One might think that such knowledge, that only death can remove you from office, would embolden a pope to make changes with less regard to popularity or push back. Perhaps that is the attraction that America seems to be enthralled with currently, choosing a president who clearly prefers an unending term, who can then do whatever he likes without fear of accountability.
While steering the ship of state, when the state encompasses a population as diverse as America's seems hard enough, imagine trying to do the same when the "electorate" lives all across the planet, and exceeds 1.3 billion people.
It surely takes a person with an advanced sense of self, or an advanced belief in their access to a divine influence, to lead with confidence when making changes that effect so many other humans. It is an enormous job, an enormous responsibility that can only be accomplished successfully by someone with great self esteem, as I mention above, but, paradoxically, someone who is humble enough to understand that even such great power pales when compared with the omniscience of the Creator.
That is where Pope Francis far outpaces the likes or Trump or Putin or Orban or any of the myriad autocrats, dictators, and tyrants who recognize the power they wield but fail to understand the true purpose of such power, to make the world better for as many people as possible.
Francis, through his belief in the spirit of his religion, his love for Jesus, his love for God, was conscious of that goal. So, even if, in my mind, he fell short of what I hoped he would accomplish, he knew that whatever he advocated for was achieved through the lens of that love of the Almighty, a lens that leaders like Trump don't have the least bit of a clue in understanding.
Francis was a leader in the only sense that matters, but still a human being with his own faults and shortcomings. So, while I might regret that he didn't do more, I know that he did the most he could do because he did it always aware of the source of the opportunity he was given.
He believed in something bigger than himself and that is what a true leader, president or pope, should always remember.
Finally, let's hope that there is not a backsliding when the next pope is chosen. My fear is that we will see a more traditionalist being uplifted, rather than someone who might continue to work for changes that will expand the Church, rather than chase young people away.
I have read a few articles detailing those men (sadly, only men) that are considered favorites to be presented after the white smoke appears. Will he be the first pope from Africa? Or an Italian pope chosen who will revert back to a more traditional papacy? Whoever emerges, let's hope that he can match Pope Francis' humility, connection to the people, and willingness to push the Church forward, not backwards.
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Before starting this post, I searched previous entries to see when I had mentioned Pope Francis. I found just three, the most recent being from this past February.
https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2025/02/jd-vance-and-ordo-amoris.html
The other two were not specifically about Pope Francis but I thought I would add links to them anyway.
https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2015/10/why-we-should-defund-planned-parenthood.html
https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2015/08/gay-catholics-and-other-odd-labels.html
Also, like this post, I have a number of entries under the topic of religion. I read a few, and liked the following one the most.
https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2010/06/following-letter-was-published-in-my.html
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