HOTSPOT

Pope Francis leaves in the same manner he first came out as the new pope in 2013, when he appeared at the central loggia of St. Peter’s wearing only the white papal cassock and greeting “good evening” in Italian. He immediately charmed Rome and the world by asking first for the people’s blessing before he would bless them for the first time as bishop of Rome and as pope.

Today, the body of Pope Francis is going to be buried in a simple tomb at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, home of his favorite Marian icon which he visited before leaving for every papal trip, and also upon every safe return.

By opting for a burial there, he would not only be near his beloved Salus Populi Romani. More importantly, he would remain close to the public, especially the ordinary folk. His grave is at a side of the nave, immediately accessible to anyone.

The world mourns and honors Pope Francis as a prophet of mercy and compassion.

He published Laudato Si, his landmark encyclical on climate change.

He refused to judge gays, and quietly shared lunch with transgenders of Rome. He ministered to Emmanuel, the grieving son of an atheist dad, who he told that God won’t abandon his father who had him baptized although he didn’t believe.

He condemned the victimization of migrants, and put himself and the church firmly on the side of the people of Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, and other conflict areas.
He travelled to Muslim-majority countries, opened talks between Cuba and the United States, and made friends with the Patriarch of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox churches.

He apologized to victims of clerical sex abuse and belatedly punished a cardinal. He also apologized to the indigenous people of Canada, for historic crimes of the church there.
The highlight of his historic 2015 visit to the Philippines was not the huge mass at the Luneta, the biggest mass of his papacy. Pope Francis will forever be remembered for his daring visit to Tacloban whose people promised to visit when he saw in Rome the news of the catastrophic supertyphoon Yolanda. His homily in Spanish, translated to English, defied linguistic barriers and an impending storm to reach to the hearts of the multitudes. “I decided had to be here...”

Pope Francis reformed the Roman curia, the central government of the church. He made the Dicastery for Evangelization the most important department, with himself as prefect. Before, the star department was the doctrinal enforcer, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Observers said the reform articulated Pope Francis’ vision for the church: Evangelization first, doctrine next, then acts of service and charity.

He appointed the first lay person to head a dicastery: journalist Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication.

He appointed the first religious woman to head a dicastery: Consolata nun Simona Brambilla, prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
He appointed Raffaella Petrini, a Franciscan nun, as president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State. She is the first woman to be named the head of government of the Vatican City State.

He changed the composition of the College of Cardinals, by slowly abolishing the European majority, in favor of new cardinals from the peripheries. We Filipinos felt this first hand, with the appointment of cardinals from Cotabato (Orlando Quevedo), Capiz (Jose Advincula) and Kalookan (Pablo David). He also appointed Manila’s Luis Antonio Tagle to the curia, and later raised him to the level of cardinal-bishop, the highest rank among cardinals.

He actively prevented the use of the traditional Latin mass as a weapon against the church’s prophetic role, leadership and reforms. Instead, he opened wide the doors of the church to people who used to be shunned or pushed away by doctrinal purity, fixation with ritual, and the abandonment of Christian charity.

More would be said about Pope Francis as the the church and world take stock of what he has accomplished. I would not be surprised that in today’s funeral mass and burial in Rome, there would be shouts and streamers of “Santo Subito”, sainthood now, from among the crowds.

The cardinals and their conclave won’t be able to escape the people’s newfound voice encouraged by Francis, and the growing expectation that Francis’ path and direction ought not be abandoned.

For now, we say “Good night, Pope Francis.”