When a pope is elected, they choose a papal name. When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope, he chose Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi — a saint most known for serving the poor, humility and devotion to protecting nature.
The saint’s name would be symbolic of who Pope Francis was: a pope for the poor, defender of migrants’ rights, a climate activist and a voice for the voiceless.
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne stated, “Pope Francis became one of the most consequential popes in history, and not just because he was in many ways a radical and a hero to liberals (without himself being a liberal).”
“Francis fiercely rebuked the ‘globalization of indifference’ and the ‘idolatry’ of money.”
Dionne adds that Francis “condemned a focus on ‘personal, community or national identity’ when it failed to affirm the ‘infinite dignity of all.’”
Pope Francis appealed to so many because he believed the Catholic Church to be an institution to serve the people, not command them. He sought to return to the roots of Catholic teachings, not the attire flair or bureaucratic side of it all.
I spoke with a pastor from the St. Thomas More Newman Center, Fr. Jordan Bradshaw, on Pope Francis’ legacy.
“A significant part of his papacy is that he would go to prisons, or he would wash the feet of people who felt displaced, such as the poor. And that left a deep impression on people. In fact, before he died, one of the things he said was that he was sad he was not going to be able to do that this year due to his health,” Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw noted that he had the opportunity to meet Francis and shake his hand. He said that “when you were with him, even in my very own brief time, you were the center of his attention. At this moment, this was who he was looking at, and this is who he was addressing. He was present.”
In 2013, when asked about gay priests, Pope Francis said, “If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?”
For some, this may seem far from “revolutionary,” and no one — especially a public figure — is ever found perfect, but Francis changed people’s perceptions of what the Catholic Church is for.
He appointed numerous new cardinals and bishops who share the idea that the pope should be like a pastor, not a politician, and many of them will play a role in electing the next pope.
He set a new tone for the church, even if it did not directly change doctrine or policy.
Some liberal Catholics may argue that’s the least he can do, but if you take a look at 2000 years of the Catholic Church’s history, I argue that’s the most any pope has done.
I do not dismiss the actions of the church and its problematic scandals of the 2000s, but Francis, as representative for 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, made the papacy not just a symbol, but an agent of defending human rights, serving the world and respecting all people.
