OCTOBER 3, 2025 INSP GROUNDCOVER NEWS Obituary for Pope Francis: advocate of the marginalized, uncomfortable admonisher and unfinished reformer FLORIAN STEGMAIER Trott-War With the death of Pope Francis, the world has lost one of its most powerful moral voices. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentinian Jesuit and child of Italian immigrants, was more than a bridge-builder between continents. He was a Pope who stood alongside the marginalized. Even his choice of name was programmatic: St. Francis of Assisi, who dedicated himself to the poor and the outcast, became his model. Francis remained true to his calling. No sooner than he was elected, he renounced red shoes, ostentatious regalia and palaces. He lived in a simple guest house, spoke of a “church which is poor and for the poor” — and meant it literally. No Pope before him has been so often in places that others ignore: in refugee camps, prisons and with indigenous groups in the Amazon region or with street children in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. He set up a hair and beard cutting service, showers and a medical contact point for people experiencing homelessness under the colonnades of St. Peter’s Square. He expressed his solidarity with street paper vendors. He had sleeping bags distributed and invited people in need to eat — sometimes over 1,000 people at a time. “Hunger is an insult to God,” Francis was convinced. Francis was familiar with the wounds of the world. Even as a young priest, he roamed the slums of Buenos Aires, celebrated mass in backyards and accompanied the sick, addicted and dying. As Pope, he did not lose this connection. Time and time again he broke the protocol, talked to people experiencing homelessness, kissed wounds and listened. He wanted a Church that was “dusty” from going out to the people — not one that lost itself in sacred splendour. He felt connected to all those whom society casts out. “Migrants are not a security problem, but people with hope,” he once said. He called for “bridges instead of walls” to be built and denounced the “globalization of indifference.” He demanded tirelessly that the Mediterranean should not be a cemetery — and set an example: through his trip to Lampedusa, through his embrace of African refugees and by welcoming Muslim refugees to the Vatican. At a time when isolationism and nationalism were regaining strength, Francis was an uncomfortable antithesis — an admonisher for humanity. Critic of the system with biblical fervour Francis was not a politician, but he thought politically. His criticism of the global economic order was clearer than is typically the case with a Pope. In “Evangelii Gaudium,” his first written proclamation, he called a social system that “excludes and kills people” immoral. Unchecked capitalism, Francis said, does not lead to justice, but to the rule of greed. He criticised financial speculation, land grabbing and a lifestyle that is at the expense of others — especially at the expense of the people of the Global South. For many in Africa, Asia and Latin America, he was a prophetic intercessor. His criticism was based on the Biblical esteem of the poor. When Francis castigated the excesses of neoliberal markets, he did so as a pastor, not as an economist. He wanted an economy that served life — not the other way around. Unfinished reforms and disappointed hopes Francis brought together what had long been separated: environmental protection and social justice. In his encyclical “Laudato si’” (2015), he outlined an ecological theology that understands the planet as the “common home” of all people. Climate change is “a question of social justice,” he wrote, because it is mainly the poor who suffer from floods, droughts and hunger, although they hardly contribute to the causes. With this letter, Francis not only changed the Church’s environmental ethics, he also brought global attention to the concerns of indigenous peoples and the Fridays for Future* generation. Still, there were many things that remained unfinished. Within the Church, there was a lack of concrete climate targets, and the conversion of Church properties into ecologically sustainable spaces proceeded hesitantly. Critics accused him of not taking decisive enough action against environmentally Photo by Ashwin Vaswani destructive structures within the Church. The vision of a synodal Church ready for dialogue remained one of the guiding principles of Francis’ pontificate. He wanted to decentralize power in the Church, and give more responsibility to lay people and increase participation by women. In reality, many structures remain unchanged. Despite clear majorities at synods of bishops, he refused to allow priests to marry or the ordination of women deacons. Progress in addressing sexual violence was also slow. Although Francis condemned the “culture of cover-up,” dismissed individual perpetrators and spoke to those affected, the systemic consequences remained half-hearted. Too often, institutional responsibility has been individualized without any fundamental reform of clericalism following. Contradiction and dignity Francis was a Pope of contradictions — one who found radical words, but often hesitated within his own ranks. One who appeared humble, and yet, did not really change power structures. However, it was precisely his imperfection that made him so approachable to many. He was not a hero of progress, but a man who struggled, searched, asked questions — and sometimes failed. He remained on the side of those who are otherwise overlooked. While authoritarian voices in politics and religion grew stronger, Francis was a voice of conscience. He spoke in a language that was understood — in slums and at climate summits. His theology was not aloof, but grounded in the fates of real people: the refuse collectors of Buenos Aires, the fishermen in Bangladesh and the refugees drowned in the Mediterranean. His attention was focused on them; he wanted to give them back the dignity that the world denied them. The death of Pope Francis marks the end of an era of listening, of reaching out and of serving. His pontificate did not fulfill all expectations, but it did set standards: for a Church that does not rise above the people, but is with them; for a global community that faces up to its responsibility for the weakest. Francis will be remembered as the Pope of the marginalized — as a shepherd who sought the lost sheep before thinking of dogmas. As a voice who didn’t give ready-made answers, but asked the right questions. As a person who testified with his entire existence that dignity begins wherever someone looks — even and especially when others look away. *Fridays for Future is a youth-led and youth-organized global climate strike movement that started in August 2018, when 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate. Translated from German via Translators Without Borders Courtesy of Trott-war / INSP.ngo 9
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