Homily
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
When the news reached us of Pope Francis’s passing, I was in a most unique situation. I was making my way to the Holy Land for a pilgrimage, suspended in the air on a flight with no access to news while most of you were following the information coming live from the Vatican. Those precious days in the Holy Land gave me time to pray and reflect on the life of our beloved Pope Francis, away from the immediate flood of reactions and commentaries.
It was at the shores of Lake Galilee that I was perhaps most deeply moved. Standing where Simon Peter once stood, I recognised that this was the place where he first accepted the call of Jesus to follow him. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinner,” Simon initially proclaimed. And some 2,000 years later, Jorge Mario Bergoglio would walk out of the Room of Tears onto the balcony of St. Peter’s, asking for our prayers because he too was a sinner – yet nonetheless called by God to continue the unbroken line from St. Peter as our Pope.
A Pope Formed in Jesuit Spirituality
There was great excitement among us Religious as we welcomed our first religious pope in modern times – a Jesuit. He was a son of St Ignatius Loyola and commitment to detachment and simplicity marked his personal witness from the beginning and he stayed true to his vow of poverty. We recall how, days after his election, he returned to his clerical residence to pay his own bill. He rode in an almost comically tiny Fiat. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work, telling priests to “get out of the sacristies” and into the streets, to get their hands dirty, and famously, to have “the smell of the sheep” they serve. He challenged every single one of us not to be ‘disillusioned pessimists, sourpusses’. I loved to hear about the sign that he had in his own room; ‘vietato lamentarsi’: ‘whining is forbidden’ ‘no whingers here’!
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius schooled him in the practice of discernment that he constantly invited the Church to practice, especially in the most recent Synod on Synodality.
A Fisher of Men
Pope Francis really heard the call first given to Peter and the others on the shores of the lake; ‘follow me and I will make you into fishers of men’. In him we had a leader who drew people in through love and mercy. He led by example and there were so many images that moved our hearts. I will never forget Vinicio Riva. He was the man in the crowd who suffered from von Recklinghausen’s disease that left his whole body disfigured with grotesque boils all over, especially his face and head. As soon as he saw him, Pope Francis made them stop the Popemobile; he jumped down and embraced him and blessed him. Vinicio said; ‘Pope Francis had no idea that my disease is not contagious.’ Never in his life did he experience such love.
When a little autistic boy jumped on the stage during a Papal audience Francis was obviously delighted. He made sure that he met and offered personal condolences to families of children washed ashore in the Mediterranean as they were seeking a better life. He called the Parish Priest of Gaza every night at 8pm to let the little Christian community know that Peter had not forgotten them. If you do something like that once, it might seem to be a stunt. If you do it every night, it is the real thing.
Francis’s powerful image of the Church as a “field hospital” captured his understanding of our mission. Field hospitals on battlefields aren’t places for minor injuries – they provide urgent care for the gravely wounded. This was Francis’s vision for a Church ministering in our confused postmodern world, attending not only to the economically poor but also to those on the “existential margins” – the spiritually, intellectually, and culturally impoverished.
The mission to these margins guided many of his practical decisions: including more women in Church governance, dramatically increasing the profile of the Vatican almoner who reaches out personally to the poor of Rome, advocating for migrants, and most remarkably, choosing cardinals from the ends of the earth, from places never before considered.
The Voice of Pope Francis
Pope Francis offered a radical critique of post-Enlightenment modernity that went deeper than many appreciated. When he wrote about care for our common home in Laudato Si, he wasn’t merely addressing climate change; he was appealing to a biblical worldview that situates humanity within God’s creation.
In his social teaching, Francis extended Catholic principles to international relations, insisting that wealthier nations have moral obligations to poorer ones; this is not a Marxist position, but one rooted in the Gospel and the Christian tradition. He condemned an “economy that kills” while upholding the Church’s consistent defence of human life at all stages. Abortion had no stronger opponent than him. He regular criticised what he called “gender ideology,” and described its imposition on developing nations as “ideological colonization.” Despite expectations from various quarters, Francis ultimately delivered none of the radical changes to Church teaching that some hoped for and others feared.
Pope Francis was humble enough to acknowledge that he didn’t get everything right. In his response to allegations of abuse there were instances where he readily admitted his mistakes and slowness in some cases. Pope Francis often spoke freely and off the cuff in ways that left people on all sides confused and uncertain about what he really meant. At times it was disconcerting to be under the leadership of Pope Francis.
This reveals the mysterious guidance of the Holy Spirit over the doctrinal and moral teaching of the Church. While Francis embraced a missionary style that reached to the margins to embrace everyone: ‘Todos, todos, todos’, he held fast to the deposit of faith entrusted to the Church.
From the Shores of Galilee to the Heart of the Church
In these days of Easter, we are reflecting on the movements of Peter in those first days of the Church. On Sunday, we heard of people gathering at the Portico of Solomon, hoping that even the shadow of Peter might fall on them – so similar to the papal audiences with people straining for a glimpse of the Holy Father. And in today’s Gospel – the very Gospel chosen by Pope Francis for his Requiem Mass – we hear Jesus’ poignant question posed three times to Simon Peter on the shores of that same Lake Galilee where I stood in prayer:
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Do you love me?” After each affirmation of love, Jesus commissions Peter: “Feed my lambs” – care for the most vulnerable. “Tend my sheep” – guide the Church. “Feed my sheep” – nourish us with the truth of our Catholic Faith, the Word of God, and the Teaching of our Church. In Pope Francis, we saw this commission lived out daily – feeding the vulnerable through works of mercy, tending the flock through his pastoral leadership, and nourishing the faithful with the truth of Christ. As we conclude our reflection on the life and ministry of Pope Francis, we give thanks for his remarkable witness. Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam.
Now, as the College of Cardinals gathers to discern who will next sit in the Chair of Peter, we trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit who has protected the Church through two millennia. The same Spirit who guided Francis through his papacy will surely lead the cardinals in their responsibility.
The Church continues its pilgrimage through history, and we look forward with hope to welcoming a new shepherd who will continue to be a fisher of men – capturing hearts through the love and mercy of Christ. May our next Holy Father tend to the vulnerable, shepherd the Church in wisdom, and sustain us through the truth of the teachings that come from the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Pope Francis now sees the Lord face to face, having completed his earthly journey. His legacy invites each of us to renew our own response to Christ’s question, “Do you love me?” May we answer as Peter did, with humility and conviction: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
ENDS
Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ is Bishop of Down and Connor
