Use this link to find additional statements and articles on Pope Francis. This list will be updated.
April 21, 2025
Pax Christi USA, the Catholic peace movement in the United States, gives deep thanks for the life, service, and leadership of our beloved Pope Francis, who died this morning at age 88, and we extend our sympathy to his family, friends, and all who love him.
Since his elevation to the papacy in March 2013, Pope Francis provided extraordinary guidance not only to the more than one billion Catholics around the world, but to the entire human family. We have all benefited from his pastoral presence, humor, humility, intelligence, and fidelity.
“Among his many prophetic actions, this first Latin American and first Jesuit pope brought Catholic Social Teaching to the very heart of the Church’s mission and he emphasized the importance of nonviolence and peacebuilding,” said Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., bishop of Lexington, KY and the bishop president of Pax Christi USA. “He personally suffered with many people experiencing war, and he personally welcomed refugees to the Vatican. He saw the connections between climate change, war and human migration and insisted that migrants and refugees be treated with human dignity. He made it clear that it is nearly impossible to call any war ‘just’ in our day and age. He was truly a promoter of peace.”
Pax Christi is particularly grateful for his strong promotion of peace, a fitting focus for a pope who took his name from Francis of Assisi. He traveled to war-torn areas (such as the Central African Republic) and historic sites of conflict (such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and repeated calls for reconciliation and nonviolence, with a clear assessment of the failures and machinations that created the initial conflict. He spoke out clearly on the grotesque damage caused by weapons manufacturers and all who profit from war, and pleaded for disarmament and for the prohibition and abolition of nuclear weapons.
“Pope Francis held a deep belief in the dignity of human beings as one of the highest values of our faith,” said Pax Christi USA Executive Director Charlene Howard. “His call to be missionary disciples compelled Catholics to be a part of the lives of others in order to recognize our shared humanity and work together to meet physical and spiritual needs while speaking truth to those in power who oppress and suppress those needs.”
As a demonstration of his desire to fashion a welcoming and inclusive Church, Pope Francis visited many places seldom traversed by his predecessors: Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Myanmar, North Macedonia, Bahrain, Mongolia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Philippines, South Korea, Palestine and Morocco.
He expressed the Church’s apology for the treatment of indigenous people after centuries of mistreatment initiated by the Doctrine of Discovery by traveling to Canada to deliver a poignant statement in person:
“We want to walk together, to pray together and to work together, so that the sufferings of the past can lead to a future of justice, healing and reconciliation.” – Pope Francis, July 2022
Pope Francis is admired for his courage in working to promote dialogue between hierarchy and people by inviting lay men and women to participate in the Synod on Synodality and including women in key roles in the Vatican, part of his efforts to be inclusive of positions and opinions among Church leadership. His statements on LGBTQ+ people, human ecology, fellowship and social friendship, caring for our common home; along with his choice to live in an apartment rather than the papal palace, visiting incarcerated people and many more were just a few of the ways he modeled what it means to be like Christ.
“Throughout his tenure, Pope Francis demonstrated to the world the qualities of a true servant leader,” said Dr. Sherry Simon, chair of the Pax Christi USA national council. “His humble, empathic style and his insistence on putting the needs of others before his own exemplified the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Pope Francis refused to play the political power games of the leaders who criticized his consistent directive to love above all else. His kindness and gentle nature touched those graced by his presence. Pope Francis’s legacy will live on in the hearts of all who witnessed his faith-filled life.”
Thank you for this beautiful remembrance of Pope Francis. For all of us in the peace movement he was an inspiration and a role model. He continues to call on each one of us to follow the nonviolent Jesus in word and action. I pray our church will find someone as dedicated to the common good and our fragile Mother Earth as he to take his place. May he continue to guide us on the path to peace.
Pope Francis was a light of faith, of trust and goodness in a world
fraught with violence, distrust, and lack of empathy for the down-trodden
and those souls lost in society!
My heart is broken. I pray that through Pope Francis’s itntercession, God will take pity on us and inspire the conclave to give us a pope in his footsteps.
I am greatly saddened by the death of our dearly beloved Pope Francis, but I know he will continue to light our way in this ever-darkening world. His teachings provide us with direction and strength as we strive to live out the gospel message of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for Pope Francis’s selfless life, his efforts to address the needs of the poor and marginalized, and his deep compassion for the human condition.
Thanks Charlene and the P.C. leadership for your thought-provoking reflections on the aura which has surrounded the papacy of P. Francis. For him, it is a focus on the fundamentals – the fundamentals of the Sermon On The Mount. Jesus offered a NEW COMMANDMENT, and Francis made it come alive in real time.
Love to read the comments of PC and the voice of the faithful. Thank you.