Only hours after Easter, Pope Francis, formerly known as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, passed away. Though having only recently left the hospital after spending five weeks in critical condition, Francis’s release was not a guarantee of good health. After all, the Pope has dealt with a seemingly endless barrage of medical problems since his mid-February hospitalization, beginning with bronchitis, but eventually spiralling into pneumonia and kidney failure. Francis was no stranger to medical tumults. Upon his election to the papacy in 2013, concerns arose when the public learned that the newly elected leader of the Church only had one full lung. Due to a respiratory infection Pope Francis had endured in his youth, much of the tissue of one of his lungs had to be removed. Respiratory issues would play a significant role in his most recent hospitalization and the one before it in 2023. Francis had been publicly using a wheelchair since 2022 due to knee issues.
Although the Pope’s passing is understandably saddening, Pope Francis lived a long life of 88 years. The average length of papal tenure is about seven years, with Pope Francis having reigned just over 12 years, five above the average. Although some were unsatisfied, Pope Francis made major strides toward countering the sexual abuse scandals of the Church through the imposition of accountability measures. He continued the Church’s tradition of charity, even allowing the poor and homeless a place to stay and eat in the Vatican palace.
Pope Francis, although his papacy was often mired in controversy, broke new ground in his position. He was the first pope from the New World (having been born and raised in Argentina), the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first Jesuit pope. The controversies of Pope Francis may be boiled down to a push and pull between church traditionalism and progressivism, with most viewing Francis as a progressive pope.
Some of Francis’s most controversial moments are: his calls for sympathy and blessing of those in the LGBTQ community (though not the blessing of same-sex marriage), his claim that money is the root of all evil, his open stance on immigration, his calls to take climate change seriously, his rejection of populism as the dross of ideology, and some seemingly omnist comments he made regarding other religions. Additionally, Pope Francis has been known for his environmental and animal advocacy. Many of Francis’s comments have been misconstrued, such as some misunderstanding that Pope Francis permitted the sanctifying of same-sex marriages. Others, such as his omnist comments, raise valid reasons for Catholics to be concerned. The ongoing struggle between the progressive and traditional views within the Church may be exemplified by the recent Oscar-nominated film, Conclave, which takes a more radically progressive perspective on the Church’s struggle, emblematic of an increasingly popular view that further church modernization is necessary. Nonetheless, the influx of youth in the Church is markedly more conservative than in past generations, coming into conflict with the contemporary push for modernization.
The next steps taken by the cardinals will be important and defining, not just for Catholics, but for the visage of the future. Upon a pope’s death, a conclave is called, wherein a new pope must be elected from among them. This time of election is an opportunity for the Church. Will they feed into the popular view that modernization is necessary? Or will they cater to their increasingly conservative, younger base? Ideally, the best candidate is one who does not make their religious views subservient to their political views, but rather, their political views subservient to their religious views. Such mispractice is all too common among Catholics; some view the Church’s only utility as being a vehicle for social progress, while many ethnonationalists use Catholicism as an identity crutch. In neither of these cases does the follower prioritize their religion, often contradicting it. It’s the ignorance of inconvenient rules by one side or the outright un-Christian hatred and anti-universality of the other. The best choice of pope, therefore, should be one that not only is appealing but overtly challenges the hypocrisy of those who are only Christian in name. The Church should not be afraid and hide its values in an apprehensive maneuver to maintain its appeal. Rather, if embracing its values is a deterrent to a small select few on the edge of uncertainty or drives others to dislike the Church, then so be it. The best thing the Church can do is set a good and true example, even if that means upsetting the norm. Thus, why not choose a conservative Sub-Saharan African pope, one who would force both the progressive advocates and conservative nationalists to critically reevaluate their stances?
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first,” (John 15:18 NIV).
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