By Barb Arland-Fye, The Catholic Messenger
Bishop Dennis Walsh of the Diocese of Davenport describes the life and ministry of the late Pope Francis, who died April 21, as “an inspiration to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The Argentinian pontiff, the first from the Americas, was “a true witness to a life of humility and service” who “emphasized the importance of compassion, environmental stewardship and social justice.”
Pope Francis cultivated these emphases in his now widely referenced encyclical, Laudato Si’ (subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home”), published in 2015. The encyclical, a type of papal letter, expands on our responsibility as stewards of Creation and connects our relationships with God, each other and the earth. That same year, Pope Francis officially entered the Roman Catholic Church in the global Season of Creation, an ecumenical commemoration of prayer and action for our common home that concludes on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4). Pope Francis took his name from the saint who cared for all of Creation. “Laudato Si’,” Bishop Walsh said, “addressed an urgent need for a collective response as a world community to respond to the climate crisis.”
In his World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation message last year, Pope Francis spoke of our “responsibility for a humane and integral ecology, the path to salvation for our common home and for us who inhabit it.” He said the Holy Spirit “continually guides us and calls us to conversion, to a change in lifestyle in order to resist the degradation of our environment and to engagement in that social critique which is above all a witness to the real possibility of change.”
Pope Francis said in Laudato Si’ that “We understand better the importance and meaning of each creature if we contemplate it within the entirety of God’s plan. … Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other” (Laudato Si’, No. 86).
The Holy Father practiced what he preached, cultivating relationships with world leaders, clergy, lay people, migrants and refugees, prisoners and persons with disabilities.
Bishop Walsh remembers meeting Pope Francis last September at the Vatican during the Annual Course for New Bishops. The bishop-elect was just one week away from his ordination and installation as Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport.
“Francis came into the Clementine Hall. They wheeled him in on a wheel chair. Once he came into the room, he stood up, they handed him his cane and he threw his arms up in the air to greet us. He walked to his chair in the middle of the room. He did not have any prepared remarks. He simply invited the new bishops to ask him anything we wanted to ask. He answered questions for an hour and a half.”
“What impressed me during that time was that he was not answering questions as a scholar or a teacher, but rather as a pastor. His answers showed his tremendous love and affection for people and he simply wanted us, as the next generation of bishops, to care for the people in the same pastoral way.”
Bishop Walsh’s encounter with Pope Francis serves as one example of the Holy Father’s commitment to see Christ in others and to be Christ to others. The Holy Father developed warm relationships with Muslims, Jews and people of other faith communities.
“The world has lost a beautiful leader, Pope Francis, who was one of very few people who lived the values of Jesus (God’s peace be with him),” said Lisa Killinger, immediate past outreach coordinator, Muslim Community of the Quad Cities. “Pope Francis was inclusive and humble, washed the feet of those who were suffering. Chose not to live in the opulence afforded people with his title, but rather to live simply. He reminded us not only to care about the sick, the poor, the needy, but also to help them in whatever way we could. We would all benefit by following God’s guidance on this as he did.”
In May 2019, Rabbi Abraham Skorka of Argentina shared the story of his friendship with Pope Francis during a talk in Grinnell. The talk covered the two religious leaders’ steadfast commitment to interfaith dialogue. Earlier that year, “Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar mosque and university, signed the document on ‘Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together’ during an interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates” (OSV, 4-21-25).
On the day of the Holy Father’s death, the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities sent a message of condolence. It read, “Jewish Federations extend our condolences to the Catholic community over the death of Pope Francis, who was a friend to the Jewish community and across religious traditions. He repeatedly condemned antisemitism as a ‘sin,’ and worked to build upon ‘Nostra Aetate,’ the landmark document which transformed Catholic-Jewish relations 60 years ago.”
Pope Francis encouraged us to recognize everyone — no exceptions — as brothers and sisters. “If we were to invite someone to share our Sunday dinner, after sharing in the Eucharistic table, the Eucharist we celebrate would truly become a mark of communion,” he said in his message for World Day of the Poor (Nov. 19, 2023). “If it is true that around the altar of the Lord we are conscious that we are all brothers and sisters, how much more visible would our fraternity be, if we shared our festive meal with those who are in need!”
Pope Francis showed us how to connect the dots – how to live in harmony as brothers and sisters, as children of the same God, and as caretakers of our common home, planet earth.
— Barb Arland-Fye is Editor of The Catholic Messenger, the newspaper of the Diocese of Davenport. Contact her at arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org.
