The Pope’s death marks in a poignant manner the passing of a man who struggled hard to hold on to life after chronic illness, but who also embodies the Christian – and Easter – message that there is a life beyond this world, marked by the Resurrection and its message of hope.
The experience of Church Realpolitik was the starting point in a journey to the head of the Church, in which role he sought to be a “Pope for the world”. In Vatican terms, this was code for looking outwards after a period of more conservative, theologically rigid tenure of his predecessor, Germany’s Pope Emeritus Benedict.
He believed strongly in the power of dialogue, making cardinal appointments from Serbia to Iran and as well as in Latin America and Africa. Most controversially, he made a deal with Beijing, intended to give protection to the underground church in China, but which critics felt gave de facto control of appointments to the Communist Party.
Francis’s arrival in 2013 marked a new era of informality. He strove most of all to be a “voice of the poor”, who opened up many doors and windows in a stuffy Vatican. His aim was to speak on eye level with ordinary Catholics – and to associate himself more broadly with the left-behind – one of his last external visits was to a prison. He was a strong advocate for the rights of migrants and refugees who took the unusual step of directly criticising Donald Trump’s sweeping deportation policies.
All Popes have some form of geopolitical ideology and in Francis’s case it was a mix of his belief that what is now called the “Global South” needed (he reckoned) to balance US power. That could also lead to an imbalance in his criticism of America and a more cautious approach to outright autocracies – he spoke of a “martyred Ukraine” but focussed his calls on ending the war rather than an outright condemnation of Moscow’s aggression.
square POPE FRANCIS ObituaryPope Francis, the leader who shook up the Catholic Church
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On homosexuality, Francis was a paradoxical figure, whose complexities reflect the tension across the Church about how to address same-sex relationships. His initial declaration, “Who am I to judge?” felt like a clarion call to understanding but the logic was tangled – the idea that homosexual love is a “sin but not a crime” because homosexuals could not be married, in the Vatican’s view was part of balancing act – but it became at times confusing.
Perhaps it was the hardening of views and a verbal slip in old age – a throwback to the often homophobic culture of his youth. But damage was done, or rather the inconsistencies revealed.
Pope Francis brought a touch and style to it which was at best seasoned by his own experience growing up under autocracy.
Anne McElvoy executive editor at POLITICO and the host of Politics at Sam and Anne’s
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