Pioneering pope

NO PONTIFF was more pioneering than Pope Francis. The first Jesuit bishop of Rome, who died on April 21 at 88, embodied a line from one of his favourite poets, Rainer Maria Rilke, “The future enters into us so as to transform itself in us long before it happens.”

Like St Francis of Assisi himself, the pope’s mission was to rebuild God’s house. The fate of that mission, which involved, over 12 years, doing things no pope had done before, now rests in the hands of the conclave of cardinals that will meet to determine his successor and, thus, the direction of the Roman Catholic Church.

But the impact of the first non-European pope will not be easy to erase.

Born on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was not one who seemed destined for the Vatican. The eldest child of Italian immigrants who had fled Mussolini’s fascist rule, he drifted through several jobs – chemist, janitor and even bouncer – before becoming a Jesuit. What appealed to the world when he became Pope in 2013 was his outsider status.

To care for the poor, to live humbly and to have solidarity with nature was, for him, part of a Franciscan vision of living that the church should embrace. He ditched the papal palace. He donned a simple white cassock. Up to days before his death, he was spotted at St Peter’s Basilica wearing plain attire. His burial ceremony will be the least ornate for a pope ever.

Francis waded into politics directly. He advocated on behalf of migrants. He criticised capitalism. He warned about the climate crisis. He went to mosques. He kissed the feet of South Sudan’s leaders to plead for an end to conflict. He telephoned Christians in Gaza. In perhaps his most famous interview, he said, “Who am I to judge?” in response to a question about gay people. This was no Benedict XVI.

Yet Pope Francis was opposed by more conservative elements within the church. On gender and sexuality, little changed within his canon law. He maintained the stance against abortion and contraception. His 2023 synod did not rock the boat. His efforts to address sex abuse scandals sometimes left much wanting.

But in Roman Catholic belief, death is not an end. Because of Christ, it is a gateway to something eternal. In his autobiography, Hope, published mere weeks ago, Francis extolled the value of not losing faith.

“Hope,” he said, is “the tension that brings together memory and utopia to truly build the dreams that await us. And if a dream fades, we need to go back and dream it again.”

It is this message, this symbolic aspect of his papacy, that will remain.