The death this morning of a Pope at 88 is a moment by which many Roman Catholics measure out their own mortal lifetime – a moment of mourning and also one that signals the continuity of the Church, while wielding strong “soft power” in geopolitics, far beyond the ranks of the devout.
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.
To the end, as one US scholar of modern papacies put it, Francis conducted a “papacy of surprises”. Hailing from Argentina where he rose from a cleric serving poor communities, he was a leading Jesuit in the capital under the murderous rule of the junta in the 1970s – and as such, was exposed early to the countervailing tensions of leadership. He was accused by many on the Left of turning a blind eye to repression and celebrated by supporters as a pragmatist who could deal with autocracy.
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.
By contrast, Francis made it his mission to open up the Church to new cardinals – from Latin America and the developing world -, which also brought him face-to-face with one of Rome’s most difficult choices – how to relate Catholicism and its trade-offs to a new era of autocracies.
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.
You could fault many of his decisions and omissions – but not his commitment to a Church active in the world as it is, with all of its challenges and flaws. Even at death’s door – suffering double pneumonia and two near-fatal incidences in the past few weeks, he met JD Vance, the US Vice President, briefly at the weekend, despite expressing in round terms disappointment with the Trump administration and its hard-line approach to immigration.
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.
Some of his most trenchant comments in his final writings (he was a phenomenally productive issuer of books and papers outlining the Church’s position but readably rich in his own, often punchily wry observations too): “Democracy is not in good health.. some say populism is the Pied Piper”, and added that Trump’s policies “will end badly”.
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.
In matters of personal morality he made liberal strides, allowing divorced people to take communion and insisting on a more understanding view of experiences counter to strict observance.
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.
A Pope who had pledged to listen to the voices of Africa and poorer countries was well aware that these are regions where resistance to liberalising the Church on gay rights remains strongest. An attempt to progress by wily compromise was also badly undermined when it emerged that the late Pope had used a derogatory term towards gay people in a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops – and reiterated that they should not be able to enter the priesthood.
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.
That said, the papacy is a hard job – a blend of ancient beliefs and the demands of modernity and the only truly “global” leadership role among the world’s great faiths.
Pope Francis brought a touch and style to it which was at best seasoned by his own experience growing up under autocracy.
He could thrill with his warmth – and disappoint with slow handling of the Church’s sexual scandals, removing the rule of “pontifical secrecy” in an effort to improve transparency in sexual abuse cases. It did not, alas, always result in the most rigorous consequences. That is a reminder that when one Pope is mourned as the conclave gathers to elect his successor, there is always a new start in the world’s oldest religious role – and a lot of unfinished business besides.
Anne McElvoy executive editor at POLITICO and the host of Politics at Sam and Anne’s
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