Thinking Out LoudJorge Mario Borgolio – a former bouncer, chemistry graduate and devoted dancer of the tango in his younger days – may have been the most effective public ambassador for compassion in living memory.
Known for the past 12 years as Pope Francis, his passing yesterday has expectedly sparked a torrent of tributes. Francis dedicated his papacy to renovating the public understanding of social justice with spirituality and propelling the church to compassion. “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets” he announced.
He was criticised from the left and the right, and by those inside and outside the church he led – a sign of someone marching to their own drumbeat. He was unclubbable. He spoke up for migrants, the poor and environmental conservation, while also speaking boldly on the sanctity of life, the importance of the nuclear family, and the divinity of Jesus Christ – unapologetically declaring him to be “the God of the living (who) walks beside us today.”
For 12 years as Pope, he explained to his church – and to the world – that true compassion is about both the spiritual and the material. He snuck out of the Vatican to visit Rome’s homeless. He visited prisoners and washed their feet. And then he declared that “Compassion is not about pity but about suffering with others (and) the worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care.”
In a world spiraling into self-absorption and defensiveness, compassion is an endangered virtue. Francis’ papacy – and life – serve as an urgent reminder. The call of true compassion invites us to suffer with each other and to see both the visible and the invisible. May he rest in peace, and may we remember what he taught us.
This Thinking Out Loud was first published on Facebook.