Adieu
On Monday 21 April, the highly respected Pope Francis died in his residence at the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta. After twelve years in the service of the Catholic Church, he was buried on Saturday under a cloudless blue sky. More than 250,000 people attended the ceremony, the Vatican said.
Pope Francis was born on 17 December 1936 and grew up in Flores, a district of Bueno Aires. His father and grandmother were emigrants from the Piedmont region of Italy who fled Benito Mussolini in search of better opportunities. Pope Francis is known to have said that homosexuality is not a sin. In an interview with AP News, he said that bishops who criminalise homosexuality need to be conversed. His predecessors were much stricter in their adherence to Catholic doctrine in terms of beliefs, values and attitudes.
Being the modern Catholic that I am, I take lessons and distance myself from the scholars of the faith, although I am a great supporter of Pope Francis' message of compassion. I would even say that I have an ambivalent relationship with the more conservative parts of the religion. For example, abortion, which I believe is a woman's right. At the same time, I would have no problem with the Church educating young people about the importance of sexual health and protection.
Pope Francis has been accused of being a communist and a critic of the free market. Far from it. I believe in a regulated market and a more sustainable capitalism. Capitalism with responsibility. At the same time, I share the Pope's view on the word profit:"Finance is a bit like the 'circulatory system' of the economy: if it is blocked in some places and does not circulate throughout the whole 'body' of the community, there are 'devastating heart attacks and ischaemia' for the whole economy," His message is that when profit is the only criterion, it has negative consequences for the economy itself. I agree with this, while at the same time i see the importance of working actively and responsibly for a better economy for people living in poverty and economic inequality. Ethics in the market economy to mitigate some of the greedy capitalism that many of the newly rich are so in favour of.
I also recognise the danger that the religious message can become somewhat ornamental if it is not translated into action. In the world of literature, you can read time and time again about how a tight economy and poverty can lead to aggression by depriving people of the freedom to live a meaningful and good life. Life expectancy is also a measure of a society's health, in the same way that gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of economic performance. Most people want to live a long life with a good quality of life.
Society should engage more in governance and employment, and focus more on the economy from a health and wellbeing perspective, helping people out of the situation they find themselves in. The profits from an "ethical" bank should be used for many things, such as a basic income guarantee for people who can't work, sports teams that have less to spend, better conditions for freelancers and easier forms of establishment for entrepreneurs from lower economic classes. The ripple effect of this is not just one society, but universal, as more and more countries adopt the values and empower individuals who can make a difference. Our great universal goal is to make a good life as easy as possible for most people.
Now it remains to be seen who the new Pope will be and whether he or she will carry on the legacy of the deceased. Let us continue to learn from Pope Francis' clear message of justice and dignity. Amen to that. And goodbye.