Pope Francis bequeaths a rich legacy that melts a church frozen in time, pushes boundaries towards its prophetic mission for the excluded, staying stubbornly focused on the vulnerable.
Dr Marianne Furtado de Nazareth
We were driving back from Goa when we heard the news about the passing of
our beloved Pope Francis in Rome. It’s only the month of April and yet with
Climate Change, the May Flower of the Gulmohur were blazing scarlet in the
Ghats, in between the fresh green teak and sal leaves in the jungles. Now
everytime I see the Gulmohur I will remember Pope Francis, who wrote
his Laudato si which I remember making my Science and Environment Media
Studies, students read and understand. In honor of his extraordinary life and
legacy, we are humbled to share from his most profound work.
Laudato si’, his papal encyclical on environment and related issues, foregrounds
the moral roots of environmental degradation, climate change, and its punishing
consequences. He pins this on an impoverished spirit driven by crass
materialism that decimates nature to produce, consume, and distribute
unsustainably, and to climate injustice wherein powerful nations contribute
disproportionately to global warming, while poorer nations carry the greater
burden of environmental and climate crises.
I quote, “Laudato Si’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of
this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home
is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens
her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother
Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with
coloured flowers and herbs”
He goes on to write – “This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we
have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which
God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters,
entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by
sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water,
in the air and in all forms of life.
This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid
waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in
travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth
(cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air
and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.”
He clearly states that our planet is facing such a grave crisis because of
unchecked human activity and over exploitation of the Earth's free treasures. He
quotes the hymn of St Francis of Assisi where brother sun and sister moon give
sustenance and life to all living creatures on earth.
“When we can see God reflected in all that exists, our hearts are moved to praise
the Lord for all his creatures and to worship him in union with them.
This
sentiment finds magnificent expression in the hymn of Saint Francis of Assisi:
Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
who is the day and through whom you give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour;
and bears a likeness of you, Most High.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather
through whom you give sustenance to your creatures.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you light the night,
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong”.
To the bishops of Brazil he has pointed out that nature as a whole not only
manifests God but is also a locus of his presence. The Spirit of life dwells in every
living creature and calls us to enter into a relationship with him. Discovering this
presence leads us to cultivate the “ecological virtues”. This is not to forget that
there is an infinite distance between God and the things of this world, which do
not possess his fullness. “
The son of Italian immigrants, Pope Francis at 88, was burdened by the weight of
age, the frailty of body, and the gravity of illness. But his spirit was astonishingly
afire with the living force and breath of the Liberative Gospel of Christ — A
Gospel for All, for the poor and marginalized. Pope Francis bequeaths a rich
historical legacy that melts a church frozen in time, pushes boundaries towards
its prophetic mission for the excluded, staying stubbornly focused on the
vulnerable.
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. With deep reverence, we join the world in mourning the passing of
Pope Francis, a spiritual shepherd whose humility, compassion, and tireless
advocacy for peace and justice inspired millions.
denazarethmarianne18@gmail.com
