After his death on April 21, we pray for Pope Francis, that he may rest in the eternal light of the risen Lord, whom he proclaimed throughout his life of priestly service, and especially in his ministry as the successor of St. Peter for 12 years.
Even though he was 88 and very ill, his death still seemed sudden, given that he was so active on Easter Sunday, giving his blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s and riding through the crowds in the square for the last time.
He willed himself to live through Easter so that he could proclaim the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to the world one last time.
Pastoral themes
Three key pastoral themes I see in Pope Francis’ papacy are his zeal for proclaiming the Gospel and forming missionary disciples, striving for world peace through justice and mercy, and loving the poor and the marginalized.
Rightfully so, evangelization has been a key priority for every recent pope.
The Church exists to evangelize, as St. Paul VI taught in Evangelii Nuntiandi in 1975, so Pope Francis strove tirelessly to bring the Gospel and its proposal of salvation in Jesus Christ to every human heart.
He called the Church to look passionately outward in order to fulfill her mission given by Christ Himself in the Great Commission.
In his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, “The Joy of the Gospel,” he said, “We know well that with Jesus, life becomes richer and that with Him it is easier to find meaning in everything. This is why we evangelize.”
He added that “A true missionary, who never ceases to be a disciple, knows that Jesus walks with him, speaks to him, breathes with him, works with him. He senses Jesus alive with him in the midst of the missionary enterprise. Unless we see Him present at the heart of our missionary commitment, our enthusiasm soon wanes and we are no longer sure of what it is that we are handing on; we lack vigour and passion. A person who is not convinced, enthusiastic, certain, and in love, will convince nobody.” (EG 266)
Pope Francis looked out upon the whole world with a pastor’s heart and suffered with those who endured the scourge of war and conflict.
From the ongoing war in Ukraine to the terrible suffering in Gaza, from the many civil wars in Africa to the internal gang violence in many countries, the pope strove and pleaded for peace, seeking a just and lasting resolution to conflict, violence, and misery.
He often brought world leaders together to seek a way of reconciliation and harmony.
In this consistent effort, Pope Francis echoed the voice of his predecessors who have spoken the peace of Christ to a tortured world.
In his message for this year’s World Day of Peace, Pope Francis said, “May we seek the true peace that is granted by God to hearts disarmed: Hearts not set on calculating what is mine and what is yours; hearts that turn selfishness into readiness to reach out to others; hearts that see themselves as indebted to God and thus prepared to forgive the debts that oppress others; hearts that replace anxiety about the future with the hope that every individual can be a resource for the building of a better world.” (Message for World Day of Peace, 2025, 13)
Above all, history will remember Pope Francis as one who loved the poor and marginalized, those excluded from a humane way of life because of poverty, illness, disability, unemployment, or forced migration.
He constantly called all of us to look for those on the sidelines, in the margins, the forgotten, and the unseen. He wanted the Church to be of the poor and for the poor.
Certainly, his own experience of working in the barrios of Buenos Aires formed his mind and heart to go in search of the lost and the abandoned.
He urged us pastors to smell like the sheep and eschewed some of the pomp of the papal office in search of a greater Gospel simplicity.
In his 2017 message for the first World Day of the Poor, he said, “If we truly wish to encounter Christ, we have to touch His body in the suffering bodies of the poor, as a response to the sacramental communion bestowed in the Eucharist. The Body of Christ, broken in the sacred liturgy, can be seen, through charity and sharing, in the faces and persons of the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters.” (Message for World Day of the Poor, 2017, 3)
Later, citing a saintly example, Pope Francis said, “Let us, then, take as our example St. Francis and his witness of authentic poverty. Precisely because he kept his gaze fixed on Christ, Francis was able to see and serve Him in the poor.” (Message for World Day of the Poor, 2017, 4)
Holding onto hope
I find it fitting that the pope died, not only in this Octave of Easter but also in this Jubilee Year, which he thematized with the virtue of Hope.
The last time a pope died in a jubilee year was Pope Innocent XII in 1700.
Hope is a gift from the Lord to sustain us through the hard and dark times of this earthly life. Hope is knowing that God has already gained the victory for us in Christ.
We have read the Book of Revelation and we know how human history ends. Christ definitively defeats the Evil One, death, and sin, and then the saints shine like the sun in the Kingdom of God forever.
Our hope flows from the power and grace of the Resurrection of Jesus, which we so beautifully celebrate in this Octave of Easter.
Jesus is the One who restores our fundamental identity as daughters and sons of the Father, the One who forgives our sins, the One who leads us home to Heaven.
In Spes Non Confundit, the bull of indiction for the Jubilee Year of Hope, Pope Francis said, “What then will become of us after death? With Jesus, beyond this threshold, we will find eternal life, consisting in full communion with God as we forever contemplate and share in his infinite love. All that we now experience in hope, we shall then see in reality.” (Spes Non Confundit, 21)
Historians, pundits, and theologians will debate the legacy of Pope Francis’ papacy for years to come, but the enduring fruit of his papal ministry will be his evangelizing zeal, his passion for peace, and his love for the poor.
These pastoral priorities aptly reflect the spirit of the first pope in history who chose St. Francis of Assisi as his namesake and his inspiration.
Eternal rest grant unto Pope Francis, Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.