Indeed. He quickly earned my respect and admiration (though I am an athiest) through his many acts of rationality and compassion. He demonstrated that one can be deeply religious while recognizing that we are part of nature and are obligated to address climate change.
I’m no longer a Christian, nor do I belong to any organized religion. But I was raised a Roman Catholic and still try to hold to most of the teachings. But I knew I was “in the right pew” recently when my MAGA evangelical nephew told me he thought Pope Francis was “evil”.
I no longer identify with organized religion, but I have total respect for Pope Francis. He worked for the planet and its inhabitants. He chose the path of Jesus. May he rest in power.
How many people today, especially those who hold so much power over us, have chosen the path of Jesus.”? As Til mentioned above, I, too, was raised Catholic and attended parochial schools although I have no longer continued a practice. But, I learned from the age of 6 years old how Jesus cared for others. I cringe whenever I hear someone announce their religious beliefs because I am sure Jesus would want us to assess their actions towards others and not just their words.
I cringe for the same reasons, and I’m cautious when I see someone wearing a crucifix. Or flying an American flag over their truck. So many precious, vital, and fundamental things have been corrupted by MAGA. Heartbreaking. ❤️🩹
In a photo in today's NY Times (the date is May 15, I'm a bit late reading this beautiful article) was Pam Bondi, wearing a crucifix around her neck. The article was about her enriching herself with pre-knowledge of where the stocks were headed. I just had to shake my head thinking, "Have you no shame?"
Beautiful. And may the conclave again choose a humble, open-hearted man, focused on the protection of the beautiful Earth, its lands and creatures, and on achieving social justice in the world.
A humble, open-hearted man....on his last day on Earth, he made time available...
for someone who does not appear to have much compassion or christian charity for anyone; who has gone against what the Pope has preached; who has been mean spirited and unloving.
He made time for JD Vance, because JD converted to Catholicism in 2019--Francis displayed decency and compassion towards a man who as yet does not display that towards any other human being.
But Francis did. A powerful gesture. A powerful lesson this atheist Catholic will remember.
The Pope was so filled with love and forgiveness, I can't help but wonder if he hoped that those minutes would effect a change in JD. Perhaps all the more so, since surely Pope Francis knew he was in the final day of his life. I think that being the last "dignitary" to see His Holiness might possibly affect JD's emotionally. I hope so, anyway.
He had been so very ill that I'm sure he was prepared for his death. His short visit with Vance showed the teachings and finest examples of Jesus Christ's mercy and love for the sinner and those beguiled by evil. I wonder, though, whether Vance benefited beyond the publicity and photo op he probably went on the trip to obtain.
I wonder if they will. The papacy seems to rotate between a small breath of fresh air, followed by retrenchment and circling the wagons. It's quite possible these dried-up old prunes in red caps will choose yet another Cardinal Ratzinger to show who's in charge or something. For the sake of Catholics everywhere, I hope I'm wrong.
A moving and insightful memory. I am not Catholic, but The visit of Pope Francis to Canada to acknowledge the wrongs of the Church against Canada’s Indigenous people was incredibly important.
A call to action. A truly sick, angry, delusional person has been given the reigns of power in world's most powerful country. He must be stopped. While Trump is replaying old tactics from his Central Park Five days, and enabling his entire MAGA government to jump into the mud with him, WE, the 70% or so Americans who do not see this country as a "weak, failed state" need to go on STRIKE, literally, until the craziness stops. Could anyone really have imagined Trump would create false evidence to justify his paranoid rants on Truth Social? We must stop Trump, not only to our fellow Americans, but to our fellow world citizens.
But it shows you the heart and soul of those who would do such a thing because they know there are those who are eager to believe your vileness. However, if you are asked , under questioning in a court hearing, if you created those phony tatoos to bring harm to that man, and you lie, both are a crime.
Not so. The regime is slandering an innocent man and using trumped-up false evidence to justify not bringing him back to the US. That could be construed as kidnapping and false imprisonment, both of which are crimes.
He lived through Easter, which had to be the last, fervent wish of his life. And he lived through a last meeting with a foreign "dignitary" who tried to use a staged photo-op with him to mislead and detract from his own profoundly un-Christian behavior.
He treated this man as Jesus would have done with all hypocrites -- a few little chocolate Easter eggs for the kids while sending the dad away empty-handed.
"But imperfection can represent itself as service, in the acknowledgement that we can transcend ourselves when we see others first."
I am going to carry this line with me from now on. The tension in the United States between the cultural myth of rugged individualism and material gluttony versus Christianity's call to serve the poor has always dogged my ability to reconcile any sort of unifying American theme and often puts me at odds with most of what Americans label as success. I have always been sympathetic to people who seem to embody humility, service, and joy. Thank you for distilling years of cognitive dissonance into the above line.
Thank you for highlighting this line. It gave me pause to contemplate. I agree with you completely. This idea has niggled its way to the center of my being in recent times.
As a collapsed Catholic (I am much more than lapsed,) I have very complicated feelings about the church of my youth and family, but I was very hopeful that by his actions Pope Francis would make the Church itself more Christ-like. It's a hard time to be a Pope, I'd imagine, and while he didn't change doctrine much, he did change the face of the official Church. The Catholic Church has been into exclusion for most of its recent existence and it's very important that he was such a humble and welcoming person. I don't have any hope for the American Catholic Church, but maybe he was able to at least set an example (and seed the College of Cardinals) with a successor who will continue to drag the church kicking and screaming into the 19th century.
I am not Catholic, I am not religious but I did like Pope Francis. He was not perfect, but who is, however, We all need to remember how he brought the church more into the 21st century. A good man, at rest.
If there were a way to lead, individually, each of those working to destroy our country and have them understand compassion — if only for the time it takes to read this essay— it might well be the turning point for us and the world.
He was the most Christlike of all the popes of my 77 years.
Indeed. He quickly earned my respect and admiration (though I am an athiest) through his many acts of rationality and compassion. He demonstrated that one can be deeply religious while recognizing that we are part of nature and are obligated to address climate change.
I mourn our loss.
I’m no longer a Christian, nor do I belong to any organized religion. But I was raised a Roman Catholic and still try to hold to most of the teachings. But I knew I was “in the right pew” recently when my MAGA evangelical nephew told me he thought Pope Francis was “evil”.
Due to similar experiences over our 77 years, my wife and I are sitting "in the right pew" next to you.
I’m glad for your company!
Indeed!
Thank you Stephen Schiff, even as an atheist, for honoring and respecting the fundamental eloquence of Pope Francis as a deeply caring human being.
same
I no longer identify with organized religion, but I have total respect for Pope Francis. He worked for the planet and its inhabitants. He chose the path of Jesus. May he rest in power.
How many people today, especially those who hold so much power over us, have chosen the path of Jesus.”? As Til mentioned above, I, too, was raised Catholic and attended parochial schools although I have no longer continued a practice. But, I learned from the age of 6 years old how Jesus cared for others. I cringe whenever I hear someone announce their religious beliefs because I am sure Jesus would want us to assess their actions towards others and not just their words.
I cringe for the same reasons, and I’m cautious when I see someone wearing a crucifix. Or flying an American flag over their truck. So many precious, vital, and fundamental things have been corrupted by MAGA. Heartbreaking. ❤️🩹
In a photo in today's NY Times (the date is May 15, I'm a bit late reading this beautiful article) was Pam Bondi, wearing a crucifix around her neck. The article was about her enriching herself with pre-knowledge of where the stocks were headed. I just had to shake my head thinking, "Have you no shame?"
I hope he rests in love and delight. For such a warm-hearted and generous man, it is the only thing that will suffice to feel like paradise!
I agree. He was a good man who cared for the earth and its inhabitants. He has earned his peace.
Maybe why the right-wing reactionaries hated him.
May his memory and example guide us forward.
Beautiful. And may the conclave again choose a humble, open-hearted man, focused on the protection of the beautiful Earth, its lands and creatures, and on achieving social justice in the world.
A humble, open-hearted man....on his last day on Earth, he made time available...
for someone who does not appear to have much compassion or christian charity for anyone; who has gone against what the Pope has preached; who has been mean spirited and unloving.
He made time for JD Vance, because JD converted to Catholicism in 2019--Francis displayed decency and compassion towards a man who as yet does not display that towards any other human being.
But Francis did. A powerful gesture. A powerful lesson this atheist Catholic will remember.
"on his last day on Earth, he made time available..." That struck me, too. He continued to love greatly in his final hours on earth.
He, of course, didn't know it was his last day on Earth.
You and I probably won't know 'our last day' either. Which seems important:
today is as good of a day as any to be as good as one can possibly be
Beautiful.
'love greatly'.
Anyone know the last time that was a bad idea?
Yes, the fact that JD vance stole even a second of the pope's last moments on earth is enough to turn my stomach. What selfish self-serving creep.
The Pope was so filled with love and forgiveness, I can't help but wonder if he hoped that those minutes would effect a change in JD. Perhaps all the more so, since surely Pope Francis knew he was in the final day of his life. I think that being the last "dignitary" to see His Holiness might possibly affect JD's emotionally. I hope so, anyway.
He had been so very ill that I'm sure he was prepared for his death. His short visit with Vance showed the teachings and finest examples of Jesus Christ's mercy and love for the sinner and those beguiled by evil. I wonder, though, whether Vance benefited beyond the publicity and photo op he probably went on the trip to obtain.
I pray that he did.
I wonder if they will. The papacy seems to rotate between a small breath of fresh air, followed by retrenchment and circling the wagons. It's quite possible these dried-up old prunes in red caps will choose yet another Cardinal Ratzinger to show who's in charge or something. For the sake of Catholics everywhere, I hope I'm wrong.
A moving and insightful memory. I am not Catholic, but The visit of Pope Francis to Canada to acknowledge the wrongs of the Church against Canada’s Indigenous people was incredibly important.
Exactly. Thank you for this memory
What a wonderful story. Rest in peace, Pope Francis.
A call to action. A truly sick, angry, delusional person has been given the reigns of power in world's most powerful country. He must be stopped. While Trump is replaying old tactics from his Central Park Five days, and enabling his entire MAGA government to jump into the mud with him, WE, the 70% or so Americans who do not see this country as a "weak, failed state" need to go on STRIKE, literally, until the craziness stops. Could anyone really have imagined Trump would create false evidence to justify his paranoid rants on Truth Social? We must stop Trump, not only to our fellow Americans, but to our fellow world citizens.
If you're referring to the photo of the knuckles with the supposed MS-13 tattoos, is it not a crime to create phony evidence?
But it shows you the heart and soul of those who would do such a thing because they know there are those who are eager to believe your vileness. However, if you are asked , under questioning in a court hearing, if you created those phony tatoos to bring harm to that man, and you lie, both are a crime.
All to say social media isn't court.
But, it could go there if they push it that far.
It would only matter if they presented it as authentic in a court of law.
Not so. The regime is slandering an innocent man and using trumped-up false evidence to justify not bringing him back to the US. That could be construed as kidnapping and false imprisonment, both of which are crimes.
Good point.
Why aren’t we calling for general strikes?!
https://generalstrikeus.com/
There is a movement for just that. You can search for the website.
Unlike in other regions of the world, there isn't a a tradition of general strikes in the US.
Exactly..why?
A servant who saw himself as one.
He lived through Easter, which had to be the last, fervent wish of his life. And he lived through a last meeting with a foreign "dignitary" who tried to use a staged photo-op with him to mislead and detract from his own profoundly un-Christian behavior.
He treated this man as Jesus would have done with all hypocrites -- a few little chocolate Easter eggs for the kids while sending the dad away empty-handed.
"But imperfection can represent itself as service, in the acknowledgement that we can transcend ourselves when we see others first."
I am going to carry this line with me from now on. The tension in the United States between the cultural myth of rugged individualism and material gluttony versus Christianity's call to serve the poor has always dogged my ability to reconcile any sort of unifying American theme and often puts me at odds with most of what Americans label as success. I have always been sympathetic to people who seem to embody humility, service, and joy. Thank you for distilling years of cognitive dissonance into the above line.
Thank you for highlighting this line. It gave me pause to contemplate. I agree with you completely. This idea has niggled its way to the center of my being in recent times.
This was my experience of President Biden -- a decent man who served this country for 50 years, imperfections and all.
Thank you for sharing your experience 🙏
What a fraught moment to lose a voice of compassion and empathy!
Thank you for your essay.
Judging from these early signs, he's not been lost, he's been preserved at his best.
If I believed in blessings, I'd expect that was his.
As a collapsed Catholic (I am much more than lapsed,) I have very complicated feelings about the church of my youth and family, but I was very hopeful that by his actions Pope Francis would make the Church itself more Christ-like. It's a hard time to be a Pope, I'd imagine, and while he didn't change doctrine much, he did change the face of the official Church. The Catholic Church has been into exclusion for most of its recent existence and it's very important that he was such a humble and welcoming person. I don't have any hope for the American Catholic Church, but maybe he was able to at least set an example (and seed the College of Cardinals) with a successor who will continue to drag the church kicking and screaming into the 19th century.
(19th. Good point.)
I am sure, pope Francis understood your book “On Tyrany”.
I am not Catholic, I am not religious but I did like Pope Francis. He was not perfect, but who is, however, We all need to remember how he brought the church more into the 21st century. A good man, at rest.
A beautiful memory. Thank you.
If there were a way to lead, individually, each of those working to destroy our country and have them understand compassion — if only for the time it takes to read this essay— it might well be the turning point for us and the world.
Thank you for this remembrance.