It is with great sadness and loss that the world says farewell to Pope Francis this weekend as his mortal remains are laid to rest.
It is with great sadness and loss that the world says farewell to Pope Francis this weekend as his mortal remains are laid to rest in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
The head of the Catholic Church died on Easter Monday at the age of 88, following bouts of illness from lung infection and other infirmities. He had been unwell for several years.
His last public appearance was to give the traditional Urbi et Orbi (for the city and the world) blessing following Easter Sunday Mass in St Peter's Basilica. Only weeks before, the pope had been hospitalized for over a month, suffering from severe double pneumonia. The world had braced itself then for news of his passing. That was in mid-February.
Therefore, it was somewhat of a surprise to see Pope Francis fulfill his public duties last weekend on Easter Sunday, albeit looking frail and confined to a wheelchair. The pontiff's rallying to give his blessing is a tribute to his commitment as the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics and his deep sense of humanity. He passed away the next morning.
Tributes from around the world have extolled his many attributes as a peacemaker and advocate for the poor majority. On being elected as pope in 2013, he took the papal name of Francis in dedication to St Francis of Assisi, who is renowned for his solidarity and compassion for the sick and the poor, the victims of persecution and oppression.
Argentine-born Francis was the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere. He broke the mold of the Catholic Church as a Eurocentric institution. For most of its 2,000-year history, the vast majority of the 267 popes over the millennia have been Italian or European. In the 8th century, Gregory III was from the land of Syria. The first pope, as Catholics believe, was Peter, the apostle of Jesus, from the land of Palestine.
Francis' ascent to the papacy heralded an appropriate internationalization of the Church. It is now fashionable to talk about a multipolar world in politics. Francis, it seems, was ahead of his time. Under his reign, more cardinals from the Global South have been appointed. When the 135-member College of Cardinals meets over the coming weeks in conclave in the Vatican to elect the next pope, most of the prelates will be from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. We may see a pope from the Philippines, the Democratic Republic of Congo, or Brazil.
In the early years of his papacy, there was some controversy surrounding Pope Francis' former time as a Jesuit Superior in Argentina during the country's rightwing dictatorship or "dirty war" of the 1970s. There were claims that the then Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as the pontiff was formerly named, had colluded with the military dictatorship. None of the allegations stood up to scrutiny, and indeed, many religious and public figures praised him for protecting others from the repression.
Francis was born in Buenos Aires in 1936 to Italian immigrants who had fled to Argentina from Mussolini's fascism. No doubt his experience of growing up in a continent that was ravaged by dictatorships often supported by the United States gave the pope a strong sense of commitment to justice, on the side of the oppressed, and a political awareness. His continent was, after all, the birthplace of Liberation Theology, which emphasized social justice as a corollary of Christian belief. It was consistent that Francis promoted many figures from the Global South to cardinal positions.
During his papacy, he shunned opulence and privilege. He opted for more modest attire, wearing a cross made from iron rather than gold, and living in a Vatican guesthouse rather than the Apostolic Palace.
Yes, he made several missteps during his leadership as the Vicar of Rome. On one occasion, he held up a flag presented to him which unbeknownst was associated with Ukrainian NeoNazis.
But overall, the man showed tremendous dedication to the cause of peace and justice. He courageously condemned the Israeli violence in Gaza, implying war crimes were being committed.
He also pleaded for peace in Ukraine at the beginning of that conflict in 2022, urging dialogue and diplomacy. That was when Western leaders were demanding a fight to the last Ukrainian, supplying more weapons, and generally fueling a futile slaughter.
Pope Francis, to his eternal credit, did not succumb to the American and European propaganda narrative of condemning Russia for aggression. He indicated that he understood the hostilities to have wider causes involving historical NATO provocation towards Russia. He refused to single out Russian President Vladimir Putin as an aggressor and villain in the way that Western governments and media were demanding. The pope said the war was not a "cowboy movie with good and bad guys."
The pontiff showed admirable respect for Russia and the Orthodox Church as a brotherly Christian tradition. He urged peace based on understanding and mutual respect.
For most of the three-year conflict in Ukraine, Western leaders repudiated peace diplomacy with Russia, insisting on arming the Kiev regime to the teeth and prolonging the bloodshed.
U.S. President Donald Trump is the only Western political leader who has earnestly pursued peace diplomacy with Russia based on respect and openness to understanding the causes of the war.
Trump had differences with Pope Francis over his immigration policies, which the latter vociferously criticized as "inhumane".
But on the issue of finding a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine, one might say that Trump has caught up with the wisdom shown by the late Pope.
It is a shame that many of the European leaders attending the pope's funeral on Saturday remain committed to a deadly policy of fueling the conflict in Ukraine, largely out of a malevolent mentality of Russophobia and disrespect for Russia.
Pope Francis stood firmly for peace, diplomacy, and respect. Such a pity that the Western politicians with solemn faces and dabbing their tears at his funeral have so little respect for the holy man and what he preached.