Pope Francis’ death: “I rejoice”

By George Kannanthanamn

Bengaluru, April 24, 2025: Easter Monday was deeply distressing for me knowing of Pope Francis’ death. But by Easter Tuesday, I overcame my sadness. I realized that I should rather ‘rejoice’ over the great life of Pope Francis, than being sad about his death.

I never met Pope Francis. Never did I even see him directly in 12 years. But he was so much part of my life. He was my inspiration. My model. Every time the thought of a new project for the poor came up in my mind, Pope Francis was my reference point. I was convinced that ‘Pope Francis would love it…. just like Jesus would have ‘

Today I held a short memorial service in our Sumanahalli Campus in Bengaluru. I made a large picture of Pope Francis hugging Vinicio Riva, the person with skin diseases. I wrote on top of the picture ‘Thank you Pope Francis’ and at the bottom: ‘You gave us dignity.’

As I explained to our 100 inmates with leprosy, HIV and disabilities, how the Pope fought for their dignity and showed it in his daily life, I could see their expressions of solidarity with him. Many of them were seen touching the picture with great reverence and love.

I rejoice because Pope Francis brought compassion as the centrality of spirituality. This was not just for Christianity but of spirituality, making it relevant for all religions. He would figure out the sick and the persons with disabilities in every place of his visit and meet them and embrace them with so much of love.

Who else could have embraced Vinicio Riva, a man who had been disfigured by Neurofibromatosis, with lumps all over his body, just to tell him that God loved him. He challenged everyone who claimed to be religious, to express their love through concrete ways in our life.

I rejoice to see children with various disabilities being allowed to come on stage and sit with him and play with him, a sight you can never see with any other religious or political leader. He dreamt of an inclusive Church.

The recent document ‘Infinite Dignity’ from the Dicastery of Faith, was not just another teaching of the Church, but the sum and substance of the dignity of every human being, which Pope Francis believed, lived and proclaimed in his lifetime.

I rejoice because he brought spirituality to very simple aspects of life. Smile. Forgiveness. Listening. Sharing. Spending time with the lonely. You don’t need to be a theologian to be spiritual or religious. Just be human. Words or long prayers don’t matter. Good relationship was more important than fasting. Love and relationship was above all. Everything against love is sinful, like gossip.

I rejoiced because Pope Francis made the people in the peripheries, the center of his life and concern. His heart always looked out for the outcastes in the peripheries. He saw what no one else could see.

He embraced what others refused to see. People from social, economic, cultural, physical, or linguistic minorities were brought to the center of his discussions and debates, providing them respect, dignity, resources and opportunities both within the Church and the outside world.

The Church had to follow, giving rise to many an initiative in their favor. Not only did he give value to the people in the peripheries, but also to people like me who were working for the peripheries.

I rejoiced because spirituality as taught by Pope Francs was not some customary practices and piety anymore. It was real. It was compassion in action. Your neighbor was important. The suffering people around were important.

There is no religion without giving and sharing. Pope Francis personally led from the front, involving in disasters, like Covid. The youth and the rationalist alike started returning to the Church which offered meaning to their search.

Building houses for the homeless was a spiritual activity. He would give a million in this jubilee year to build ten houses in Rome. He lived his whole life what he said soon after his elevation as Pope, “A Church of the poor, A Church for the poor.”

I rejoice because my Pope could speak truth to power. He dared to travel to places and meet people in power and position, but never compromising on values or principles. He would speak against the atrocities on Rohingyas right in front of the military junta in Myanmar.

He had the courage to tell Donald Trump, that a person who creates walls to block people was not a good man. He was the only person in the world who could speak to Vladmir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky to stop the war with a moral authority.

He had the courage to tell to stop killing the people in Gaza, to the ire of many a world leader. He proved that love and truth are much more powerful than power itself. He was the most reconciliatory voice of our times. Probably the only one.

I rejoice because Pope Francis brought simplicity of life as a virtue back to the Church. He refused to live in the Papal Palace. He auctioned off the luxury cars and many other valuables that were gifted to him. He fired the German bishop who built a palatial Bishop’s House. He would dine with the Vatican staff. He wanted everyone to share with the poor. Poverty and the poor were not just words for his homily. He lived it to its fullness.

I rejoice because Pope Francis was a messenger of peace. He was deeply convinced that God wanted all HIS children to live in peace. He detested war. He did everything possible to end conflicts anywhere in the world. War was a crime. Killing is not acceptable. Spirituality cannot accept death penalty.

For me the most touching moment of his papacy was when he went down on his knees to kiss the feet of the leaders from Africa to request them to stop all fighting and provide the opportunity to live in peace for the people. The fragile old man’s act was something that no one ever could imagine, to bring the warring leaders to get reconciled. He proved that the ultimate weapon for anyone was love.

Probably the most important message from Pope Francis was that no religion could contain God. He strongly believed that God is not limited to Christianity. God is the God of all – all religions, races, nations, castes, and creeds.

He broke all boundaries and barriers to bring divergent faith groups and leaders together. He could pray with people of any faith. He knew that the only way for a peaceful coexistence of all mankind was to accept the divergence of faiths and religions. I rejoice to see my Pope connecting to every human being on this planet.

I rejoice because he lived up to the name of Francis he chose as the Pope.

I rejoice because he timed his death well ‘in the battlefield,’ not in a ventilator.

I rejoice at being a contemporary of Pope Francis.

I rejoice at sharing his baptism name, Georgio and share his feast today.

(Claretian Father George Kannanthanam is the director of Sumanahalli in Bengaluru.)