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© 2025 Hector Viveros Lee |
#ppcearthday2025
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Pope Francis 1936-2025
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It was exciting to that on March 13, 2013, Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis, named after St. Francis of Assisi. He was the first Latin American pope, the first pope of the Global South, the first Jesuit pope, and the first non-European pope in over 1200 years.
But nothing in his past, indicated that he would be revolutionary pope. As a Jesuit superior he governed authoritarian hand that he was sent to Germany to reflect. He was also criticized for not defending his fellow Jesuit priests who had been disappeared. But when I read his interview by Antonio Spodaro, I was taken by a pope who was open and in touch with contemporary life. I found a prelate who was not brining the past ecclesial beliefs and practice to the modern world but was adapting Jesus gospel to the present time. He saw holiness in the lived out lives of ordinary people: the father who works, the mother who raises children, the sick, the unemployed, the homeless who struggle for a space in society. The article moved me to conduct a reflection event at St. Agnes.
Additionally, Pope Francis made outreach to LGBTQ folk. When asked about gay priests, Pope Francis responded, If a person is gay and seeks out the Lord and is willing, who am I to judge that person?” He added that before all else, LGBTQ folks are persons who must be treated with wholeness and dignity. God loves all his creature and they are destined to receive God’s love as God first attribute is mercy. He did not change the Church’s teaching on homosexuality, which is defined as “intrinsically disordered” in and sexual activity outside of marriage is grave sin. But there was a recognition that gay people need relationships and families, even if it didn’t live up to the norms of the Church, gay people were to be welcomed in the Church. Todos, todos, todos.
I am moved to tears how he taught by his actions. He gave up living in the apostolic palace to live in Santa Marta, the papal apartments. He didn’t ride in a a fancy car but chose to ford escort. His first overseas trip was to Lampedusa, an island in the Mediterranean where, many African migrants go arrive to get to Europe. While riding in a pope mobile, he stopped to embrace Vinicio Riva, a man disfigured by a non-infectious genetic disease. He consoled the a boy who had doubts if father had died as an atheist was in heaven. The pope told Emanuele, if his father was able to make his children courageous and strong, he was a good man. He continued the practice of washing the feet of women prisoners for Holy Thursday. His gestures spoke volumes.
Te estañaremos Papa Francisco. Rest in Peace
Quotes:
“To change the world, we must be good to those who cannot repay us.” October 2014
“The promise (of trickle-down economics) was that when the glass was full, it would overflow, benefiting the poor. What happens instead is that when the glass is full, it magically gets bigger, but nothing ever comes out for the poor.” 2014
“It's hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help.” October 2016
“Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love … The death and resurrection of Jesus is the heart of our faith and the basis of our hope.” 2025
“Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy … Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love.” 2013
“Without this joy, faith shrinks into an oppressive and dreary thing; the saints are not ‘sourpusses’ but men and women with joyful hearts, open to hope … Blessed Carlo Acutis is likewise a model of Christian joy for teenagers and young people. And the evangelical, and paradoxical, ‘perfect joy’ of St. Francis of Assisi continues to impress us.” 2022
“You who live by always giving, and think that you need nothing, do you realize that you are poor yourself? Do you realize that you are very poor and that you need what they can give you? Do you let yourself be evangelized by the poor, by the sick, by those you assist?” 2015
“We have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” 2015
“The Lord entrusts to the Church’s motherly love every person forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future … In this regard, I wish to reaffirm that ‘our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote, and to integrate.’” 2016
“There are always problems and arguments in married life. It is normal for husband and wife to argue and to raise their voices; they squabble, and even plates go flying! So do not be afraid of this when it happens. May I give you a piece of advice: Never end the day without making peace.” 2016
‘When the votes reached two-thirds, there was the usual applause, because the pope had been elected. And he gave me a hug and a kiss and said: ‘Don’t forget the poor!’ And those words came to me: the poor, the poor. Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. Then I thought of all the wars, as the votes were still being counted, till the end. Francis is also the man of peace. That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi. … How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor!’ 2013
‘Who am I to judge?” — Francis, responding to a question about a purportedly gay priest, in a comment that set the tone for a papacy more welcoming to LGBTQ+ Catholics, July 28, 2013.
‘In certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments. Hence, ‘I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber, but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy.’ I would also point out that the Eucharist ‘is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.’” 2016
It’s an honor if the Americans attack me.” Sept. 4, 2019.
I am sorry. I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools.” 2022
Being homosexual is not a crime.”— Jan. 24, 2023.
“We must not let ourselves be robbed of hope!
“Hope is life, it is living, it is giving meaning to the journey…”
“Faith makes us open to the quiet presence of God at every moment of our lives, in every person and in every situation.”
“Because faith, which is always God's gift and always to be asked for, must be nurtured by us.”
“God never tires of forgiving. It is we who tire of asking for forgiveness.”
“Situations can change; people can change. Be the first to seek to bring good.”
“Let us get up, therefore, and set out as pilgrims of hope… we too can bring news of joy.”
“A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.”
“This is me, a sinner on whom the Lord has turned his gaze.”
"The most serious sins are those that are disguised with a more 'angelic' appearance. No one is scandalized if I give a blessing to an entrepreneur who perhaps exploits people, which is a very serious sin. Whereas they are scandalized if I give it to a homosexual – this is hypocrisy.” 2024
'I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.I am one who is looked upon by the Lord. I always felt my motto, Miserando atque Eligendo [By Having Mercy and by Choosing Him], was very true for me.” 2013
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