On Easter Monday, April 21, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, pontifically named as Pope Francis, passed away at the age of 88 due to a stroke. Through his 12-year reign as the head of the Catholic Church, he had done countless deeds to advocate for the poor, the environment, and for peace.
He is the first to choose the pontifical name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the environment and a man of poverty. Upon Bergoglio’s exit on the balcony of St. Peter Square, he donned a simple white garment without the usual vestments and red shoes as a symbol of simplicity.
Steward for the poor and mother earth
In an interview with the press after his election, Pope Francis talked about his advocacy on poverty, stating that he would like “a church that is poor and that is for the poor,”
Throughout the years, he continued encouraging people that “whenever we encounter a poor person, we cannot look away, for that would prevent us from encountering the face of the Lord Jesus,” as he said during the World Day for the Poor in 2023.
In practice of his teachings, in 2018, Pope Francis made use of the colonnade of St. Peter's Square by turning it into a clinic for the poor called the Mother of Mercy Clinic. Soon after, in 2019, a four-story Vatican property was turned into a shelter for homeless people.
Pope Francis greatly advocated for the environment through the Laudato Si encyclical letter published in 2015, wherein he addressed environmental concerns through theological reflection and delved on the societal impact of human action towards the environment, calling on radical political action to combat it.
“We have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor,” he wrote.
All is included
Pope Francis championed for inclusion of many sectors, he acknowledged both atheists and LGBTQIA+ in the church and advocated for a greater role for women in the church.
In 2013, when asked about gay clergy members in an interview, he responded that "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?"
His acceptance towards the LGBTQIA+ community changed narratives, although same-sex marriage is not allowed, priests were allowed to give blessings to same-sex couples.
In the same interview, he discussed greater roles for women in the church, stating that “A Church without women is like the college of the Apostles without Mary. The role of women in the Church is not simply that of maternity, being mothers, but much greater…”
Throughout his stint, women were promoted to leadership roles in the catholic church. Sister Raffaella Petrini was appointed by him to be the secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State—the first ever woman to ever hold this position.
Lolo Kiko
In 2016, Pope Francis visited the Philippines from Jan. 15 to 19, after the devastating Super Typhoon Yolanda hit the country in 2013.
Despite bad weather conditions, he flew to celebrate an open-air mass in Tacloban, Leyte attended by thousands of Visayans who were eager to be blessed by the presence of the Pope.
A yellow raincoat was adorned by the Pope as he consoled the victims of the typhoons, "I do not know what to tell you. But surely He knows what to tell you! So many of you have lost members of your family. I can only be silent; I accompany you silently, with my heart," he said during the sermon.
The final mass of the visit was held at Rizal Park, amassing a crowd of six million devotees; it broke the Guinness World Records as the largest papal crowd after the 1995 World Youth Day held at the same venue.
His visit was long remembered by many Filipinos and remains to be a touching gesture by the Pope after tragedies struck the country. This earned him the moniker of Lolo Kiko—a grandfather who watches over the flock of 60 million Catholic devotees in the Philippines.
Before his death, every night, the Pope had continuously called a church in Gaza to check up on them. Addressing all nations, he had called for a ceasefire in Gaza during a brief appearance on Easter, a day before his passing.
He emphasized, “I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace.”
From his charitable works to his progressive ideas, the late Pope Francis was not just a father to the Catholic Church—but a steward for all.
