Archbishop Charles C. Thompson on the passing of Pope Francis

(En Espanol)
 

Pope Francis greets Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis during a meeting with U.S. bishops from Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin making their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican Dec. 12, 2019. The bishops were making their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses to the pope and Vatican officials. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Though saddened to learn of Pope Francis’ death at age 88, we can take great consolation in his passing to his eternal reward after so many years of faithful service to Jesus Christ and his Church.

After being appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to shepherd the Diocese of Evansville in 2011, it was Pope Francis who appointed me to lead the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 2017. I was able to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican during an ad limina visit in 2020, and it has been my privilege to learn from his teaching and example during the past 12 years.

Pope Francis was, in his own words, “a son of the Church.” In his many years as a Jesuit priest, a bishop in his native Argentina, and as the Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter, he was filled with holiness, missionary zeal, and confidence in the presence of the Holy Spirit. As a pastor, Pope Francis was committed to leading our Church in a synodal way of Christ-centered dialogue and encounter, urging all pastors to accompany their flocks—especially the poor and marginalized—as we minister to a world in desperate need of Christ’s peace and love.

The late pope’s desire for openness, dialogue and transparency offered us many opportunities to see firsthand how he responded to the pastoral and social challenges of our time. Pope Francis had a distinctive style and tone during his pontificate, but the message was always consistent. He truly was a man of the Church committed to upholding the eternal truths of the Catholic faith and to applying them in a pastoral way to the circumstances of today.

Like his predecessors, Pope Francis held a consistent vision of the truth that valued human life in all its dimensions. While many in the secular culture were eager to exclude the Church from the public arena, the pope never wavered in voicing the Church’s commitment to peace in our world, the sanctity of life and concern for the poor and vulnerable—a vision rooted in God’s infinite goodness and mercy for all people. 

In the forward he wrote to one of the many books about his papacy, Pope Francis listed three major themes that could be said to preoccupy him since he succeeded St. Peter as the Bishop of Rome 12 years ago. These three are:

• First, to have a strong relationship with God;
• Second, to have a strong relationship with creation; and
• Third, to relate strongly with others, focusing on the worldwide migration of peoples.

Pope Francis unabashedly embraced all of God’s creation, especially human life—from conception to natural death—and care for the Earth, our common home. A loving and fierce advocate of all children, he once said about abortion, “It is not right to ‘do away with’ a human being, however small, in order to solve a problem.” He also affirmed the Church’s commitment to the value of all human life when he updated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018, stating in a revision of paragraph 2267 that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, and [the Church] works with determination for its abolition worldwide.” 

The late pope was a powerful evangelist who reminded us on more than one occasion of our call “to missionary discipleship.” Every Christian is called to be a missionary, he said, sharing the good news of salvation in Christ and making disciples for him, not just for oneself or for one’s group of like-minded believers. As he wrote in his apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium,” “Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey” (#127). 

Pope Francis had an unwavering passion and devotion to the faith, to the Church, and to the people of God everywhere. He was a good and faithful servant, a Vicar of Christ. May he rest in eternal peace, gazing on the face of God. †

 

See more updates following the death of Pope Francis here