21/04/2025
He was present. Fiercely, tenderly, and courageously present.
A polychromatic pope: never black and white, always embracing the full spectrum of humanity, complexity, and contradiction.
It was Pope Francis who sent his shoes on the ground, quite literally, in Paris, placing them among thousands of others in silent solidarity with climate marchers who were banned from gathering after the terror attacks in
2015. A small gesture that spoke volumes.
It was Pope Francis who could encourage and challenge you in the same breath. “Never give up, never get tired of serving,” he once reminded me. I never forgot, I will never forget.
It was Pope Francis who asked for forgiveness, for the historic wrongdoings of the Catholic Church in Canada and beyond. And he meant it.
He stood with the most vulnerable, the marginalized, the outcasts... the “discarded,” as he often called them.
He was not afraid to speak up, in public or in private.
Whether at the Vatican or at the edge of the world, he used his voice for those who had none.
From the Amazon to the Congo Basin to the Middle East, Pope Francis stood with the oppressed, again and again. Many around the world are in tears, as I do.
He leaves behind a Church more uncomfortable, more honest, and more human. “Miserando atque eligendo” was his Papal motto: “by mercifully choosing”.
He’s leaving us with a strong message, conveyed in his papal bull for this Jubilee: “Spes non confundit” (Hope does not disappoint). Above all, Pope Francis is the Pope of Hope for our time.
May he rest in power, and may we carry forward his call to serve, to protect, and to never look away.
🕊️💛
Top Social CEO