Continuing from last week, the final part of my list of fourteen things that I have personally found beautiful, hopeful, or inspiring in Pope Francis’ Papacy.
10) Visit to Iraq: March 5, 2021 – Pope Francis was the first Pope in history to visit Iraq. In commemoration of his visit, March 6 has been declared by Iraq as a national “Day of Tolerance and Coexistence.” As it was said in the homily given at Pope Francis’ funeral: “Of Pope Francis’ 47 arduous Apostolic Journeys, the one to Iraq in 2021, defying every risk, will remain particularly memorable. That difficult Apostolic Journey was a balm on the open wounds of the Iraqi people, who had suffered so much from the inhuman actions of ISIS. It was also an important trip for interreligious dialogue, another significant dimension of his pastoral work.’”
11) March 25, 2022 – consecrated world to Immaculate Heart of Mary: After Russia invaded Ukraine, Pope Francis, inspired by the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Messages at Fatima, consecrated Russia, Ukraine, and the world to Christ through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In asking Mary’s intercession for peace and an end to violence in all forms, it seems no mere coincidence that exactly three months later, on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that Roe vs. Wade was overturned, a step forward in the protection of life, a cause particularly entrusted to Mary’s intercession. And while the war in Ukraine is still raging, it seems very significant that at Pope Francis’ Funeral, President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine were able to sit down and have a conversation about working for peace in Ukraine. This seems especially significant as their first conversation did not go well. What a beautiful thing that Pope Francis’ funeral would be an occasion to inspire world leaders to sit down and talk about how to work towards peace!
12) July 22, 2022 – Mary Magdalene’s Feast Day: Pope Francis elevated July 22, the day we commemorate St. Mary Magdalene, from a Memorial to a Feast Day, to give greater attention to the importance of St. Mary Magdalene and her role in proclaiming the Gospel.
13) Pope Francis encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus: In October of 2024 Pope Francis published his third encyclical, which was the last significantly extensive writing that he would publish. I find it particularly moving and inspiring that Pope Francis, as a loving father, who probably knew that his death was not so far away, wanted to give his final words of wisdom to us, his spiritual children throughout the world. And in doing so, the final words of wisdom he desired to leave us with was to point us precisely to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
14) Pope Francis dies in Easter Octave: Lastly, that his very death would highlight our hope in the Resurrection of Christ, as our spiritual father on Easter Sunday gave us his final blessing, dying the following day, in the Octave of Easter.
Peace,
-Fr. Kevin
