Eulogizing Pope Francis: “My people are poor and I am one of them”

The Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI), a multi-faith environmental justice organisation in solidarity with the vulnerable poor, celebrates with fondness the embracement of all faiths by Pope Francis, his living example of solidarity with the poor, and his steadfastness in advocating for ecojustice from the multidimensional social, political, economic, and faith perspectives. The passing of Pope Francis is a great loss that is coupled with a sweet aura of 12 years of dedicated, humble service to people, planet, and God. As SAFCEI celebrates its 20th anniversary and commemorates the 10th anniversaries of both the Paris Agreement and Pope Francis’ revolutionary encyclical, Laudato Si’ On Care for Our Common Home, we present a four-point characterisation of His Holiness Pope Francis to celebrate his honourable life.

A first of many firsts: The election to papacy of the then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio Mario made him a first of many. The first Jesuit to be elected Pope, the first from Latin America, the first non-European Pope in over 1200 years (since Pope Gregory III from Syria who passed on in November 741), and the first to visit South Sudan among many other firsts.

A humble servant: His papacy has been marked with great humility, firmness on the quest for justice (including ecojustice), and an unconventional proclamation of the mercy of God for all.  However, his genuine love for creation and for the poor stands out even in his death. Yet, this was always him and not something that he “acquired’ upon his election as Pope. While serving as the Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he left the palatial bishop’s residence and lived in an apartment. In Rome, he did not live in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican and, instead, chose to live in a guesthouse in Casa Santa Marta, where cardinals reside during the Conclave.

When he visited Kenya in 2015, Pope Francis declined to ride in the fuel-guzzling presidential motorcade and took a Honda Civic instead; declined a lavish stately banquet prepared by the President, refused to say at a 5-star presidential suite prepared for him by the State, choosing to stay at the Vatican Embassy (The Apostolic Nunciature), opted to meet with Priests, Men and Women Religious and Seminarians in the place of Bishops, and celebrated a Papal Mass in the low-income neighborhood of Kangemi Slums. Even in death, he sought no glory, having amended the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (the Order of Funeral Rites for a Roman Pontiff) in 2024 to simplify the burying of popes as pastors (servants) and not as heads of state.

A bold, loving activist: Pope Francis was not afraid to address difficult topics and people with bold love and to break human-imposed ceilings. In January 2015, against the counsel of organisers, Pope Francis donned a raincoat to celebrate Mass with millions of faithful at the Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines. On 24 May 2017, he gifted climate denialist and the-then and the current US president, Donald Trump, with a copy of his transformational encyclical, Laudato Si’ On Care for Our Common Home (exactly 2 years since appending his signature on this landmark encyclical). Regrettably and to the peril of us all, President Trump did not (and has never heeded) this bold act and continues with his initially failed attempts to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement. Yet, Mr. Ban Ki-moon and Ms. Cristiana Figueres, while still UN Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) respectively, praised and welcomed the moral and ethical compassing set by Laudato Si’ towards fighting the climate crisis.

Pope Francis was a climate and eco-justice rights’ activist to the core. When demonstrations were banned ahead of the Paris talks and climate activists arranged 11,000 pairs of shoes at the Place de la République, Pope Francis’ shoes were part of the “Marching Shoes” protest. Later, on October 4, 2022 (on the solemnity of St. Francis of Assisi, whose name Pope Francis chose when he became Pope), the Vatican accessed to party under the leadership of Pope Francis and submitted the Holy See’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in May 2023.

A Pope of Hope for All: His consistent reaching out to other faith leaders and meaningful involvement of science and scientific facts in his work broke longstanding lines and barriers. From incorporating the reflections of other faith leaders, civic leaders, scientists, philosophers, and many others in Laudato Si’ to hosting a dialogue on faith and science ahead of the 26th UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP), Pope Francis united the world in hope regardless of creed, race, religion or status. In 2019, he signed a pledge of fraternity with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, in the United Arab Emirates to fight extremism together. A pilgrim of hope himself, Pope Francis brought hope to the crying poor and the wailing earth, only to rest in the Jubilee Year of Hope, having planted and cultivated the same hope during his 12-year reign.

Written by: David Munene, SAFCEI Board Chair and Programmes Manager at the Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa (CYNESA)