HUMANITY has lost one of its finest. Pope Francis has joined mankind’s pantheon of immortals, whose contemporary ranks include Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero, and several others.
The life he lived and the many teachings he gave will timelessly resonate with meaning and forewarning whenever the world skids close to the precipice of inhumanity.
His death comes at a most regrettable time. The world is engulfed in so many wars – military, trade, and even a war on truth, with people bombarded daily with massive disinformation worldwide. The forces of prejudice, greed, and apathy are at their most resurgent strength, breeding the kind of lifeless lives that blight the earth.
And one of the unending sources of conflict in the world is the competing beliefs of superiority by followers of different religions. As a result, religion has become an instrument of prejudice and persecution.
Hence, this is a time when the world is in dire need of leaders like Pope Francis who rang the bells of moral values and upright principles to chastise wicked leaders and to shake us from our stupor of inaction.
Social media and mass media are swimming in an ocean of tributes and recollections of unforgettable quotes from a spiritual leader who transcended the stifling rigidities of his conservative church and instead preached a “universal faith” in mankind’s common Creator. This is the reason why the loss of Pope Francis is mourned not only by Catholics but even by other Christian denominations and religions including Muslims – especially for his unyielding support of Palestine and Gaza – Jews, Hindus, and even atheists.
Moving tributes abound extolling Pope Francis. A Malaysian Hindu netizen had these words for the pope:
“He chose love over doctrine. He chose compassion over judgment. And most remarkably, he chose action over applause. He walked with the poor. He knelt before the discarded. He challenged the powerful not with anger, but with moral courage. And he did all of this with a smile that felt like a prayer.
“He understood something many religious leaders forget: that God doesn’t reside only in temples or churches or mosques. That holiness isn’t a place – it’s a way of living. A way of seeing others. A way of choosing kindness, over and over, even when it hurts.” — Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
