Our Easter Pope

Francis was the first pope in more than 1000 years with a background in science, and it showed.  Despite being a Jesuit, he chose the name “Francis” for its symbolism — evoking a widely familiar disciple of Christ who embodied humility, diplomacy rather than conflict, and respect for nature over exploitation of the environment.  His first trip abroad was in celebration of migrants and the poor, lifting up the refugees from the Global South.  His first encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home, drew on science to center our humanity in the natural world — and placing the stamp of Catholic moral theology squarely amidst the efforts to address climate change. In Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel, he called all Christians to be ‘missionary disciples,’ to live spiritually rather than selfishly in the world. Before the 2020 US election, he wrote Fratelli Tuti: Brothers and Sisters All and called for people to strive to overcome their differences, rather than succumbing to prejudice and villainization of immigrants and other vulnerable groups. He sought to overcome the sin of sexism in the Church, and famously uttered the words, “Who am I to judge?”  He spoke out until the very end against the murderous pointless suffering of people in Ukraine and the Middle East.

May we be a pilgrim people, following the light of Christ behind the leadership of our beloved bishop, Jorge Bergoglio, saintly Jesuit, humble representative of the global South, Bishop of Rome and the kind of pope with whom every Catholic can feel pride of membership in our Church.  “O Lord, support us all the day long of this troublous life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then, in thy great mercy, grant us a safe lodging, a holy rest, and peace at the last.”