newYou can listen to Fox's news articles!
At one of the Cardinals' meetings prior to the 2013 Conclave, Jorge Mario Bergolio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, became Rose to speak.
In a simple yet provocative language, he called out a church, both physically and existentially, heading towards the margins from itself. The church, which focuses on itself, is obsessed with its own disagreement and tension, and will argue that he is not effective.
On all accounts, this was a speech that secured his election as Pope just a few days later. What's more, it's Francis' speech that sets the tone of the entire Pope.
Pope Francis is waving from his popemovie after a weekly Angelus prayer at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican on October 20, 2024. (Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty)
With words, gestures and deeds, Pope Francis consistently reached out to the people at the edge – the poor, the disenfranchised, the disgraced from the church – and tried to bring them to the centre.
Pope Francis was destructive. Now the next Pope must clean up the “confusion”
This instinct can also be felt in the way he chose Cardinals, often overlooking traditional power centers and offering bishops a red hat in places such as East Timor, Mongolia, El Salvador, and Newark, New Jersey.
He was the Pope of simplicity, a man with a general touch, or his memorable phrase “Shepherd with the smell of sheep.”
A few days after the election, he returned to the rather ordinary priest's residence where he had stayed to pay his bill directly. He lovingly embraced a man with a serious face appearance. He washed and kissed the prisoners' feet on a holy Thursday. He chose to live in a small apartment within Casa Santa Marta, not in the wonderful Pope Palace. He never visited the summer palace of Castel Gondolfo, beloved by his predecessor. And he shunned the elegant limousine for the little fiat almost comically.
Through all these gestures he showed that he wanted a “poor church on behalf of the poor.” When the church's reputation was at historic low due to clergy sexual scandals, this was a great source of encouragement for many Catholics around the world.
He was the Pope of Earth. I understand that in saying this there is a risk of simply portraying him as an euro-left environmentalist, but this would be a terrible misrepresentation.
The leader of the faith reflects on Pope Francis' death, the Pope, and his lasting legacy: “Making His Mark.”
Pope Francis meets former Pope Benedict XVI to exchange Christmas greetings at Matter Ecleccia Monastery in Vatican City on December 23, 2013. (Maurix/Gammalafo via Getty Images)
In summoning the church to the concerns of nature that became “a pile of filth,” he listened to the biblical, formal sense of human drama unfolding in a much broader context of God's good creation.
Laudato Si, the title of his regenerative letter dedicated to this topic, came from St. Francis of the Canticle of Assisi, an ecstatic hymn of beauty in “The Brothers' Sun and Sisters' Moon.” Reading Laudato Si is struck by a stable debate over “modern times” and its “technocratic mentality.”
Francis was undoubtedly a pope, particularly obsessed with issues of justice between nations. In his regenerative Fratelli Tutti, he called classic Catholic teachings about the universal destination of commodities, and was called Marxist for his troubles.
Pope Francis is welcomed when he arrives in the Apostles province in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on September 1, 2023. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
The doctrine expressly expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas believes that private ownership is valid, but the use of what it owns should be determined by the main concern of the common interest. The novelty of Pope Francis is that this principle is applied not only to individuals but to the nation, where prosperous countries must consider the suffering and needs of their poor neighbors.
Pope Francis and the US President: Looking back on his legacy with the leaders of the country
Nowhere could this teaching lead to a more sharp point than the consistent advocacy of immigrants seeking a better life.
If I were to guess, I think the most important thing he would remember is his defence of his meetings. In this certainly rather slippery term, he meant a church marked by listening, accompaniment and consultation.
Pope Francis has always doubted excessive centering, but actual meetings are the means by which all local churches of its diversity and particularity are brought to church conversations.
This commitment to the community undoubtedly emerged from the formation of the Pope's deep Jesuits in the process of spiritual identification. In other words, they are patients who listen to the urges of the Holy Spirit before making serious decisions. In pursuit of this goal, Pope Francis sponsored two international conferences on the topic, bringing together 400 bishops, priests, and people for intense conversations.
For more information about Fox News, click here
I was able to be the elected representative for these assemblies. And we can testify to the development of conversations that transcend ideological, geographical and cultural boundaries. Whether this effort will have a long-term impact on the life of the Church is debated.
On the negative aspects of the ledger, for many, the Pope's generous outreach may indicate that for many, the equivalent of the permissible impairment of Catholic moral teaching, particularly in regards to marriage and sexuality.
Pope Francis places a white rose on the name of the September 11 victim on September 25, 2015, on the edge of the south pool of New York's 9/11 memorial. (AFP by Getty Images)
Amoris Lattia (though suggesting the possibility of communion for divorce and remarriage) and Fidosia Sapplichan (that allowed the blessings of same-sex people) remain highly controversial documents. The latter was effectively vacant by the African bishops. And the conference process leads many in the Church to depart from evangelical witnesses and to a conversation that is directed at endless, fruitless dialogue, chatting in itself rather than boldly presenting Christ to the world.
Click here to get the Fox News app
Sometimes Pope Francis was able to appear in the master of false dichotomy. Not moral demands, mercy, rather than maintaining the center, go to the margins, rather than giving the clergy privileges, all this wants a more moderate and wise Pope 12 years from Francis, who is relatively free in circles.
Ultimately, I think we should thank him as someone who has been deeply marked by Jesuit training and as someone who equates him with the man of Jesus Christ. And this meant that for Pope Francis, he was the bearer of God's mercy, and invited a deeply wounded soul into the church's field hospital.
For more information about Bishop Robert Baron, click here
