Pope Francis, who passed away at 88, will be remembered for his efforts to make the Catholic Church more inclusive.
Perhaps it is a mark of our times that Pope Francis, who died yesterday at the age of 88, is regarded as a “radical” pontiff because he regarded all human beings as equal … a sentiment at the heart of the teachings of Jesus.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the football-loving former bishop of Buenos Aires in Argentina, is credited with taking the Catholic Church along a more compassionate path by looking at people for who they are and not what they represent.
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A compassionate path for the Church
Hence, he was outspoken in dealing with those formerly on the fringes of the traditional Catholic community.
He allowed divorced and remarried believers to receive communion and approved the baptism of transgender believers, as well as blessings for same-sex couples.
While that may have ruffled feathers among the old-school Catholics, the reality is that the church has been becoming more modern since the ’60s, since the Vatican Two ecumenical council began the process of slowly changing Catholic life and practice to keep it relevant in a rapidly evolving world.
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Legacy of a humane faith
Francis was very much a man for that transforming planet, outspoken on matters of the environment, as well as being highly critical of injustice wherever he saw it – be it in the White House or in Gaza.
He made a point of talking to the youth about sex, pornography and the tsunami of information technology.
Whether the Catholic Church continues the more humane–but–not–humanist–trajectory encouraged by Francis remains to be seen, but it would be a pity for it and the world were it to lurch to the right in keeping with the current wave of political and social sentiment.
His live and let live philosophy will be his legacy… and not such a bad way to live for the rest of us, either.
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