For me as a nun and a progressive Catholic, there was never going to be a good time for Pope Francis to die. While there is still a long way to go, the 12 years of his historic papacy were marked by greater respect for, and better listening to, LGBTQ+ people. He called out dictators and unjust economics, warmakers and climate chaos. Every day, for a year-and-a-half, he phoned a Catholic parish in Gaza. When he was dying in hospital, he texted instead.
Among the last things Francis did before his death on Easter Monday was to meet the US Vice President, JD Vance, with whom he has publicly rowed over immigration policy. I like to think he met with Vance to force him a Catholic, to look him in the eye and justify the deportation of migrants to, say, Salvadoran mega-prisons. I think it was one, last, effortful act of radical nonviolence.
For this reason, Francis’s death leaves the Catholic Church at a crossroads. It is true that the College of Cardinals, 135 of whom make up the conclave who will meet to select the next pope, is stacked with Francis’s 110 picks, but that does not mean they share his views. Francis’s focus was shifting the centre of power away from white, European Catholicism, and towards a diversity that better reflects the global church. It was anti-racist, not political.
I still hold out for the Spirit to blow in and send ballot papers spinning. The outpouring of love following Francis’ death demonstrates that the Catholic Church is pivoting – and, crucially, is seen as pivoting – from being an institution to a community, one for refugees, people experiencing homelessness, LGBTQ+ people.
square LIZ DODD
I'm a nun - the Trump-Vance interpretation of Christianity is nonsensical
Read MorePope Francis threw those gates open: there is no “in” and “out”, just a community of humans seeking God in all sorts of ways. If the cardinals discern a new leader with the courage to continue building this community and dismantling the institution, the Church can stand proudly and authentically in opposition to bullies and dictators.Thankfully, there are some things the next man cannot undo, whatever his politics. Francis reimagined the papacy by the way he lived it, choosing to live in a guesthouse and not a palace, to return from hospital in his Fiat, not a helicopter. For the new pope to do otherwise – to return to the outdated pomp and grandeur – would be almost impossible.
Sister Liz Dodd is a Sister of St Joseph of Peace
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Pope Francis was a bastion against Trump – his successor could bow to pressure )
Also on site :