26/04/2025
โBrothers and sisters, good evening,โ there were no grand gestures, it was simple, warm, and welcoming. Those were his tender, gentle first words, Pope Francis spoke during his papacy, on the balcony of St. Peterโs Basilica on March 3, 2013. That was it, the quiet start of an era, the beginning of Catholicism under his papacy.
Before he was Pope Francis, he was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the eldest of five siblings, born on December 17, 1936, where he lived a humble life in a crowded city and shared meals with his family in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Just like most of us, he was just a normal, regular kidโhe played on the busy streets with his friends, swept the floors, he felt butterflies in his stomachโlong before he became a priest, and eventually, the first-ever Latin American leader of the Catholic Church, the first Jesuit Pope, and the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere.
It was a moment of grace, something new, something inexplicable hit him. At the age of 17, on September 17, 1953, the young Jorge slipped into the church during the Feast of Saint Matthew, and what was routine turned into reckoning. He confessed with utmost sincerity to a priest, and it left a major impactโthere was something with that confession that marked him with the word โmercy.โ Eventually, he made โMiserando atque eligendoโ (โBy having mercy, He called himโ) his official episcopal and papal motto. From that moment on, he made it his mission to shape a Church that sought out peopleโespecially the broken, the forgotten, and the cast aside. โThat was the moment,โ he once said, โwhen something changed inside me. I wasnโt the same.โ It was not loud nor dramatic, it was rather merciful.
It was not the only time he experienced Godโs mercy. He was 21 when he was gravely ill, when a lung illness almost took his lifeโalmost took him away from the world that needed him. He was hospitalized, and a part of his lung had to be removed. He was there, alone, isolated, trapped in the white hospital walls, uncertain of his fate. Then it hit him againโit was his second calling. He understood human suffering. Those two callings helped to shape one of the most effective leaders in the Catholic religion.
Since he was different from his predecessors, he met criticismsโhe was the first of many firsts. He welcomed new ideas, he took a stand for the marginalized, he saw things from a better perspective, a wider point of view. Pope Francis was the dawn of a new toneโhe was soft, yet stable. He was there not to rule, but to serve, which he spoke with great emphasis and lived out until his very last breath.
Pope Francis accepted new ideas, which changed the narrative of the Catholic Church. โIf someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?โโwhich he spoke during a press conference in his first year of papacy. It shook the worldโa game-changer, indeed. Critics argued that he undermined past popes, that he overstepped, and just plainly shifted the whole perspective of the Catholic Church towards homosexuality, โa sin.โ It stirred controversies. However, Pope Francis stood tall amongst his criticsโhe clarified, but never apologized.
He welcomed those individuals who were misunderstood, unaccepted, and marginalizedโliving out Godโs gospel, โGod does not abandon anyone. And the Church must do the same.โ With open arms and an equally open heart, he took them into the house of the Lord: the LGBTQIA+++ members, indigenous communities, single mothersโthose people that often drew the attention of many. They were often judged, they stood out among the crowd like the black sheep. But Pope Francis did not want to do the same. We could say he was open to inclusivity, and he gave voice to the unheard. Pope Francis took Palestinian refugees to the church amid the war.
The said pope lived a simple life, away from the luxury he was privileged to have. He drove a simple car instead of a limousine. It was his choice not to live in the Apostolic Palaceโthe grand, luxurious home the previous popes lived in. Rather, he stayed at a humble guest house instead. Also, simple white robes, with no extra accessories that would symbolize wealth and power, covered his body. His way of living again met praise and critiques from conservative individuals, which did not affect him to the core.
Pope Francis did more than talk. He dedicated his life to following his routine every day, including allocating time to visit the most marginalized on a daily basisโwhich earned him the nickname โPope of the People,โ due to his approachability, focus on the margins, the oppressed, and for breaking down the barriers of the Church on who should or should not enter.
It was serene, it was sad, it wasโฆ sorrowful. Hearing the news of his passing, this April 21, 2025, at 88 years old, broke the hearts of billions of Catholic people in the worldโeven the non-believers whose hearts he touched. He made such a great impact on the world, which changed the perspective of Catholicism for good. After battling some serious illnesses over the past years, his last opponent was stroke and heart failure, according to the Vatican.
โDear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter.โ With sincere voice and tone, thousands of people outside the Vatican Church never would have guessed that it would be the last words Pope Francis would ever say in his last public appearance. There was no grand gesture. Just final whisper of hope.
Feature by Mary Antonette Dadis
Cartoon by Sarahmae D. Emiterio
