Pope Francis belonged to all of us, and not just the Catholic Church

Pope Francis belonged to all of us, and not just the Catholic Church

Pope Francis was not simply an inspired world leader. He wasn’t merely a ‘do-gooder’, a humanist. He was a person of faith.

The death of Pope Francis has been the news of the week in many parts of the world. Born in 1936, he has found his death on Monday, April 21, 2025, at 88 years of age, after a few weeks of illness and after participating in some activities on Easter Sunday, a delicacy that adds to the celebration of the Jubilee year. Although Francis leads an institution that is a minority on a universal level, the truth is that his death has exceeded the intere…

The great power of the Catholic Church, as well as of any congregation, lies in the control of the revealed word. Although the message is attributed a divine origin, its dominion is political. In preaching the word of God, the Pope is a moralist with universal ambition. His judgments, based on a deep reflection on the meaning of the true, share them with other beliefs arising in very different societies. Religions, like traditions, standardize m…

“Pope Francis Belonged to All of Us,” said Cardinal Brislin during the Memorial Mass

In a heartfelt homily delivered during the Memorial Mass for Pope Francis held at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Johannesburg, Cardinal Stephen Brislin offered a powerful tribute to a Pope who transcended borders, divisions, and institutions. “Pope Francis belonged to all of us and not just the Catholic Church,” said Cardinal Brislin as he addressed people of all faiths who came to pay their last respects to Pope Francis, commonly referred …

Leader comment: Easter person

IN A tribute in The Times this week (“I’m an atheist — but I saw Pope Francis as a good guy”), the journalist Andrew Billen praised his subject for having been “more concerned with lives in the here and now than their post-mortem destinations”. He...