Pope Francis, in his important messages and in the presentation of his Papacy with a unique humility, sought to show in the most striking and moving of ways the extraordinary importance of the spiritual as a powerful source of global ethics in the challenges of contemporary life.
On the vital issues of our time – such as global hunger and poverty, of climate change and justice, of the plight of migrants and indigenous peoples, of the dispossessed, of the fundamental necessity of global peace and diplomacy – Pope Francis’ voice constituted a consistent invocation of a shared humanity that is represented by acknowledgement of the essential dignity of each human person.
For example, in Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical in 2015, he called upon us all to face the urgent challenge of protecting our common home, to accept the challenge of bringing the whole human family together in cooperative search of a sustainable and integral form of living.
These issues I had the privilege of discussing at length with Pope Francis across our five meetings over the course of his Papacy.
Pope Francis’ last visit to Ireland was as part of the World Meeting of Families in 2018. I was pleased on that occasion to welcome Pope Francis to Áras an Uachtaráin, where we continued the discussions which we had begun upon his Installation in 2013 and in the Vatican in 2017, and subsequently continued in our further discussions there in 2021 and 2023. The warmth and encouragement offered by Pope Francis was greatly valued by Sabina and myself.
During his visit to Ireland, Pope Francis spoke of the scandal of child abuse, including in the Church, and its consequences for victims and families. On such matters, and on others such as attitudes towards women and those of the LGBTQ+ community within the Church, Pope Francis sought to play a positive role. I recall at the end of our meetings he would say as to his work on such issues, ‘it is very difficult’, as he asked for and offered prayers. It is important that the steps he took are built upon as they constitute a source of hope in the years to come.
In paying tribute to Pope Francis’ legacy, may we all reflect on the ethical approach that is necessary to tackle the many vital issues, including the serious danger of what he termed ‘the globalisation of indifference’, to which he drew the attention of office holders and their publics.
There was a warmth to Pope Francis and an abolition of any distance between himself and those with whom he was engaged. In reflecting on his Papacy, I think of Pope Francis’ own words in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti with regard to Francis of Assisi, after whom he chose his name:
Francis felt himself a brother to the sun, the sea and the wind, yet he knew that he was even closer to those of his own flesh. Wherever he went, he sowed seeds of peace and walked alongside the poor, the abandoned, the infirm and the outcast, the least of his brothers and sisters.”
May I express my deepest sympathies to the Apostolic Nuncio, to Archbishop Eamon Martin and all Religious in Ireland, to members of the Catholic faith throughout Ireland and across the world, to all those who will particularly feel his loss in his native Argentina and across South and Central America, and to all those of all faiths and none who were so inspired by his life and work.”