By M L Satyan
Coimbatore, April 24, 2025: After a very long period, God selected a modern, pro-poor Francis Assisi in the form of a pope to reform the Church that was rusting.
Definitely, he too had been seriously reflecting on the contrast between the wealthy Vatican and the acute poverty outside. For this reason, he chose to live an exemplary, humble and simple life that he followed as a cardinal in Argentina.
Francis has not only preached about simplicity and solidarity with the poor but also practiced it in his personal life. On several occasions the pope demonstrated the values of simplicity, concern, compassion, transparency and courage.
He set up new trends by visiting the hospitals, prisons and washing the feet of the prisoners, including women. He became a living demonstration of the proverb “Actions speak louder than words”.
Pope Francis understood very well what Jesus said: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt.6:21). He took upon himself the responsibility of reforming the Church in his own style, of course as per God’s will. With his dynamism, humane and pro-poor approach, he tried to bring about radical changes within the Church.
Through his trend-setting initiatives he advocated the values of simplicity, responsibility, transparency, compassion, service and concern for environment.
He repeatedly instructed cardinals, bishops and priests to practice all these values.
He always urged the bishops and priests to be ‘shepherds with the smell of the sheep’, grounded in the situation of their flock. He did this purposely since vast majority of cardinals, bishops and priests have got used to worldly comforts and luxuries and lead royal life. They are cut off from the mainstream society. For this reason, Francis tried to lead a very simple life and set an example for the clergy.
Pope Francis focussed on ‘servant leadership’. He often reminded the clergy that they are called to “serve” and “not to be served”. His frequent visits to the prisons and washing the feet of the prisoners conveyed a message of “service to the marginalised”. On several occasions he said, “You pastors should be people capable of living, of laughing and crying with your people, in a word, of communicating with them. Priesthood, isolated from the people of God, is neither a Catholic priesthood nor a Christian one.”
He also constantly advised the priests on homilies: “The homily must be brief, an image, a thought and a sentiment. The homily must not go on for more than eight minutes, because after that, with time attention is lost and the people fall asleep, and they are right. And I want to say this to priests, who talk a lot, very often, and one does not understand what they are talking about. A brief homily means: a thought, a sentiment and a cue for action, for what to do. The homily must help transfer the Word of God from the book to life.”
Did Pope’s advice fall on deaf ears?
Today we live in a world of consumerism. We tend to destroy nature and natural resources for our selfish enjoyment. The ecological imbalance is the result of our misplaced priorities. We are also divided in the name of caste, colour, region and religion. Communal violence is on the increase.
Unequal distribution of wealth, growing poverty and unemployment have become burning issues in many countries. In this scenario, the Pope’s encyclicals Laudato Si (May, 2015) on care for our common home and Fratelli Tutti (October, 2020) on fraternity and social friendship were very powerful and they have become “guiding lights” for the church. Do we really follow the messages of these encyclicals?
To summarise, Pope Francis made drastic changes in the Catholic Church since his election, including efforts to reform the Vatican bureaucracy, appoint women to some important offices in Vatican, promote greater transparency, interfaith dialogue, and encourage more inclusivity and diversity within the church. He also made significant efforts to address issues of clerical sexual abuse within the church. His ‘Penitential Trip’ to a school in Canada will serve as a caution to his successors. He always listened to the youth and wanted them to be enlightened leaders.
At the age of 88 the pope battled with many serious health complications. His delicate health was indeed of grave concern for the doctors. The pope never tried to resign but continued to fulfil his responsibilities. With great difficulty he gave his angelus blessings on the Easter Sunday.
He lived the words of St. Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7). During this mourning period, it is worth reflecting on the values that Francis preached and practised. Are we ready to carry on his legacy?
Out of the 135 cardinal electors — 108 were appointed by Pope Francis. Reportedly, they don’t know each other very well. The last 20 (including Cardinal George Koovakad from India) were appointed in early December 2024. Also it’s not clear how many out of the 135 electors will turn up in the Vatican on May 7, the day when the Conclave begins.
CONTROVERSY
A big uncertainty is whether Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once one of the most powerful cardinals in the Vatican, will be allowed in the Sistine Chapel. Francis in 2020 forced Becciu to resign as head of the Vatican’s saint-making office and renounce his rights as a cardinal because of allegations of embezzlement and financial fraud. Becciu denied any wrongdoing but was put on trial in the Vatican criminal court and convicted of finance-related charges in December, 2023.
Curious readers may refer to a report captioned “A cardinal is convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to five-and-a-half-years in prison in a major Vatican financial trial “. The link is: https://apnews.com/article/vatican-trial-cardinal-pope-690128606e1e22534551b7f74b3d4814
He is appealing the conviction and has participated in the pre-conclave meetings, but there is a lingering question about whether he is entitled to vote. The Vatican’s official statistics list him as a “non-elector.”
There is a conjecture in certain quarters that the next pope could be from Africa, in view of reported rise in Catholic population. With all due respect to the 18 eligible voter cardinals from Africa, the papal baton is most likely to be passed on to someone who can attract more funds and beef up the Vatican Bank. So international connections of the prospective pope will definitely be given high weightage (5 out 10 points?)!
Many African countries have accumulated significant debt with China, particularly for large infrastructure projects. Some countries like Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Djibouti, are facing potential “debt-trap” situations. Countries like Ethiopia, Zambia, Nigeria and South Africa are also deeply affected. If there is an African Pope, how will he help the African nations tide over this? Will a part of Vatican Bank funds be used to pay off Chinese lenders? The possibility of the Chinese lenders becoming Catholics overnight and waiving off the loans looks highly unlikely.
Out of the 252 cardinals from 96 countries, only 135 cardinals (below 80 years of age) are electors. Of these 53 are from Europe (includes 17 Italians), 23 from Asia (four from India), 23 from Latin America, 18 from Africa, 14 (10 from USA and 4 from Canada) from North America and 4 from Oceania.
So mathematically a massive sweep in favour of an African pope looks highly improbable although no one can read the 135 cardinals’ (most of them do not even know each other!) mind, for all of them will be locked inside a fully-sanitized (of digital equipment) conclave hall from May 7 onwards till the white smoke comes out!
8 minute homily and without any relevance just reading pages after pages. Holy Father’s simple directions can’t be adhered to.
Pope Francis called the Church “a field hospital” which would care for the marginalized and marooned. He is the first Pope to have said “the church is a church for the poor and of the poor.” Of course, he didn’t say, the Church is “by the poor” as US President Abraham Lincoln said “democracy is of the people, by the people, for the people.” One reason is the Catholic Church doesn’t believe in a democratic church even though it talks of `Synodality.’
Regarding Pope Francis’ insistence of `Not-more-than-8-minute Homily’ it has definitely fallen on deaf ears. When I forwarded it to my parish priest in Kolkata, he just smirked!