canyonwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canyonwalker) wrote2025-04-22 10:09 am
canyonwalker) wrote2025-04-22 10:09 am
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RIP, Pope Francis
Pope Francis died yesterday, Monday 21 April 2025. He was 88. The cause of death is stated to be a stroke followed by heart failure. He had been in and out of the hospital the last several weeks, and was last seen in public on Sunday delivering Easter greetings.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the former pope represented many firsts for the leadership of the Catholic church. He was the first pope from outside Europe in over 1,000 years, the first from Latin America, the first from anywhere in the Americas, the first from the southern hemisphere, and the first from the Jesuit Order. He was also the first to take the papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), known for his support of the poor and the environment.
Pope Francis leaves a mixed record— mixed in the sense of the perception of his leadership vs. the reality. With all those firsts, it was widely believed that Francis would be a progressive leader. He was certainly a more charismatic figure than his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, who came from an academic background and was a staunch ideologue. Though it's worth remembering that the pontiff who preceded both of them, John Paul II, was widely regarded as rock star for his energy and public appearances in his younger years (he served from 1978 to 2005) but was conservative in his interpretation of the faith.
One early sign that Francis might change Catholic teaching to align with widening modern social values came when he quipped, "Who am I to judge?" in 2013 in response to a question about gay people as practicing Catholics— or even as members of the clergy. But while that offhanded quip sent immediate shockwaves through the faith, that's all it was— an offhanded quip, an informal style of speaking Pope Francis employed regularly. Francis made no policy change on the acceptance of non-heterosexual people in the faith, nor did he change the church's teachings or policies on any other modern issues: sexual abstinence, contraception, abortion, divorce, or the ordination of women into the clergy.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the former pope represented many firsts for the leadership of the Catholic church. He was the first pope from outside Europe in over 1,000 years, the first from Latin America, the first from anywhere in the Americas, the first from the southern hemisphere, and the first from the Jesuit Order. He was also the first to take the papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), known for his support of the poor and the environment.
Pope Francis leaves a mixed record— mixed in the sense of the perception of his leadership vs. the reality. With all those firsts, it was widely believed that Francis would be a progressive leader. He was certainly a more charismatic figure than his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, who came from an academic background and was a staunch ideologue. Though it's worth remembering that the pontiff who preceded both of them, John Paul II, was widely regarded as rock star for his energy and public appearances in his younger years (he served from 1978 to 2005) but was conservative in his interpretation of the faith.
One early sign that Francis might change Catholic teaching to align with widening modern social values came when he quipped, "Who am I to judge?" in 2013 in response to a question about gay people as practicing Catholics— or even as members of the clergy. But while that offhanded quip sent immediate shockwaves through the faith, that's all it was— an offhanded quip, an informal style of speaking Pope Francis employed regularly. Francis made no policy change on the acceptance of non-heterosexual people in the faith, nor did he change the church's teachings or policies on any other modern issues: sexual abstinence, contraception, abortion, divorce, or the ordination of women into the clergy.