When a Champion of Humanity Dies, His Spirit Lives On

By Fr. Shay Cullen

Pope Francis has passed from this world, to the great sorrow of all who loved him and his style of leadership as head of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the only pope in 1,282 years who was not a European, as well as the first Jesuit to be elected pontiff. He was arguably the most humble, compassionate and dedicated defender of the poor, as well as fighter for human rights and the dignity of all. Other popes were considered traditional and conservative, focused on dogma and the purity of Church teaching, but Pope Francis focused more on alleviating the suffering of the poor. He was considered a progressive pope, having strong solidarity with the poor, the excluded, migrants, refugees and the downtrodden of this world. He had openly criticized multinational corporations for their wild exploitation of poor nations and creating greater poverty.

He recognized the rights of every marginalized group. When asked about gay people in the Church in 2013, Pope Francis’ response caused a stir: “If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge him?”

He lived a simple life and put aside the elaborate ermine capes and other traditional regalia of the papacy. He even lived in the Casa Santa Marta guesthouse instead of the papal apartments, saying of the latter: “It is big and spacious … and I cannot live without people. I need to live my life with others.” He had other guests to talk to at breakfast and dinner. He ignored the papal limousine associated with the rich and the powerful and chose a small vehicle to ride in. He was truly a servant of the people and a washer of feet. He went to prisons and, like Jesus of Nazareth, washed and kissed the feet of prisoners. He wanted his bishops and priests to dress simply, put aside gold-braided clerical vestments and live simply as humble servants of the poor.

He visited people in remote and poor communities worldwide. One time, he even brought three Syrian Muslim refugee families from Lampedusa Island to Rome, where he helped them settle as an example of respect and outreach, and called on other nations to do the same. He was a powerful voice calling for the protection of the environment, and of Creation, and spoke out against violence and war. In his powerful encyclical “Laudato Si’ (Praise Be to You),” he called for the conservation and protection of the planet and all life.

He initiated historic reforms with a synod on synodality, a system of dialogue in the Church where the laity, bishops and priests talk face-to-face and share concerns, guided by the Holy Spirit, to achieve the mission of Jesus of Nazareth. The greatest sadness and suffering of Pope Francis was over the numerous sex crimes by priests against children and their cover-up by bishops. This clerical abuse caused lifelong trauma to the child victims and denied them justice. It brought shame and disgrace, and damaged the credibility of the Church.

Pope Francis was shocked by the extent of the clerical child abuse, and many had been convicted and jailed abroad. In the Philippines, only one out of dozens of credibly accused priests is in jail and on trial in Cagayan. During a visit to Chile in January 2018, Bishop Juan Barro connived with other bishops and convinced Pope Francis that the survivors’ allegations of clerical sex abuse were false. Pope Francis called the allegations slander, causing anger and consternation in the Chilean church.

In April that year, a group of child victims of clerical abuse from Chile visited him at Casa Santa Marta. He learned that the conniving Chilean bishops who had blamed the survivors of lying were, in fact, lying themselves. Although the pope is supposed to be infallible, he humbly admitted his mistake and blamed himself, and asked the victims for forgiveness. With true humility, he apologized for his “tragic error” and later expressed “shame and sorrow” for the clerical abuse.

He then challenged the Chilean bishops with evidence of the abuse. They begged for forgiveness and Pope Francis asked the 34 bishops to offer their resignation. They did, and he fired three bishops at once, including Barro, and later replaced others. The pope later held an extraordinary summit of the world’s bishops on pedophilia in the church and changed church laws to explicitly criminalize such abuse. But some bishops defied Pope Francis and continued to protect their pedophile priests.

Pope Francis discovered widespread corruption in Caritas, the worldwide church charity. After an investigation, he fired every member, including the Asian cardinal in charge, The Crux reported. He felt betrayed again when CNN revealed in 2019 that the same cardinal knowingly approved the appointment of a convicted pedophile, Belgian Salesian priest Fr. Luk Delft, as head of Caritas in the Congo. It was widely known that Delft was convicted of child sexual abuse and possession of child pornography in 2017. The knowledge of his conviction did not prevent the cardinal from approving his appointment.

These cases are only a tip of the iceberg of the worldwide clerical child abuse and its cover-up. Some Filipino bishops protect their pedophile priests, calling them “sons,” thereby making themselves accessories to heinous crimes of child sexual abuse. In the Philippine church, only two priests are known to have been convicted, and both are from the Archdiocese of Cebu. They admitted their crimes, but with the connivance of the prosecutor and judge, made a plea bargain and got off without any punishment and continued to serve in ministry. There are enough child-abuse crimes and cover-ups to cause the great Pope Francis to turn in his grave. His spirit lives on.