A Catholic pope has none of the levers of power that leaders of nation states possess, such as a standing military or an industrial apparatus.
A pope’s power rests solely on the 2,000-year-old religious institution’s moral authority, and its 1.3 billion followers the world over.
Because of that moral authority, people listen, including those who are not Catholic, when a pope speaks. What they say is not always popular, even among Catholics.
Pope Francis, who died Monday at the age of 88 after several years of declining health, is being fondly remembered as a trailblazer — the first Latin American pope — and as humble, loving, dedicated servant of God. He saw his mission, which began with his elevation to the papacy a dozen years ago, as one to speak up for the powerless and disenfranchised, and to reform the church’s bureaucracy and finances, which had become a corrupting influence within the church. He chose to live more simply than some of his predecessors. He selected the papal name of Francis, after the 13th century friar who created a religious order that required a vow of poverty, to signify that materialism was something to be eschewed, not embraced.
For all of his personal magnetism, Francis ruffled many with his teachings. He was a critic of capitalism. He believed in climate change and called on the world’s biggest polluters to do something to reverse it. He deplored the crackdown on illegal immigrants, challenging Christians to follow their faith and treat foreigners in their countries with kindness and compassion. Within the Catholic church itself, he alienated traditionalists by being nonjudgmental toward homosexuality and by reimposing restrictions on the Latin Mass that had been relaxed by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
Still, Francis could be disarming even with those with whom he disagreed philosophically on key issues. He was less conservative than Benedict, but Francis embraced the retired pope and treated him as a valued adviser. On Easter Sunday, the day before Francis’ death, he met with Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, and presented him with a gift of chocolate eggs for Vance’s children. Vance has been a champion in the Trump administration for austere immigration measures, but the vice president came away from that meeting not defensive but rather grateful for the opportunity to have met personally with the ailing pontiff.
Although Francis did many things right, he made some missteps that he would later acknowledge. He was slow to recognize the magnitude of the priestly sexual abuse scandal that he inherited and the damage it had done to the respect and deference traditionally given to Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals.
He was not a perfect person, and he was humble enough to recognize that. He had the courage to remind Christians that Jesus Christ’s teachings are neither easy nor comfortable, and he had a warm, loving touch that comforted those experiencing great distress.
You could disagree with this pope, but you couldn’t help but like him. That’s why the outpouring of sadness over his departure has been so profound.
