A Final Goodbye to a Pope of Many Firsts

Ashwin Vaswani

By Harris Felix ‘27

Pope Francis, the 266th Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church, which has 1.4 billion worldwide followers, died on April 21 at age 88. Church bells tolled from Mexico City to Paris to Manila, and hundreds of thousands flocked to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City as the Church and the Catholic population bid goodbye to a figure who reshaped the papacy through humility, inclusion, and a long list of historic firsts.

The papacy is among the longest-standing leadership positions in history and can be dated back to around AD 30 when Saint Peter is said to have been appointed by Jesus himself. So, the papacy is a relic of the past, yet one that has managed to remain relevant through whirlwind change. Pope Francis certainly furthered this mission as he took a progressive stance on issues such as immigration, sexual abuse, and climate change; many deemed the change during his papacy as part of the “Francis effect.”

The word “pope” is derived from the Ancient Greek papas, meaning “father,” and from his election in 2013 until his death in 2025, Francis embraced his role as a father figure with forceful simplicity. When he first stepped out onto the Vatican balcony to address the faithful, he greeted them with a simple “buonasera”—Italian for “good evening.” He chose to live in the modest Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than the Apostolic Palace. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was the first pope from South America, the first non-European in over 1,000 years, and the first member of the Jesuit order of priests, an order known for a commitment to education and social justice. He was also the first pope in modern history to select a name not held by a previous pope; he chose the name Francis to honor St. Francis of Assisi, the 13th-century saint known for his service to the poor.

Bergoglio was born in 1936 and, after recovering from a serious illness, was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958. He was ordained a priest in 1969, became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and was selected as a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. Even then, he was known as a “bishop of the slums” for his relentless work and prayer in the poorest parts of the city. Finally, following Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation in 2013, the conclave of cardinals elected Bergoglio, Pope Francis.

Francis quickly became known for his progressiveness. When asked early in his papacy about gay church members, Francis famously proclaimed, “Who am I to judge if a person accepts the Lord and has good will?” Later, he became the first pope to support blessings for same-sex couples. He also made it easier for divorced and remarried Catholics to participate in church life. The church, he said, must be a place for “todos, todos, todos”—everyone.

“The people’s pope,” Francis traveled widely and preached in the poorest areas, consistently prioritizing compassion in his global outreach. He visited seven countries never before visited by a pope, including Myanmar and Iraq. Also, within the unprecedented number of new cardinals he appointed were those from more than 25 countries that had never had one before.

In 2015, Pope Francis visited the U.S., where he met with President Barack Obama and addressed Congress in Washington, D.C. He traveled to Philadelphia and then New York, where he met tens of thousands lining the path before him in Central Park and celebrated Mass in Madison Square Garden. Finally, he spoke at the UN headquarters to one of the largest ever gatherings of presidents and prime Ministers about the importance of the organization’s peacekeeping role. Later in his papacy, he traveled to Juárez, Mexico, where he held Mass just 50 yards from the U.S. border, offering hope to many among the roughly 250,000 migrants in attendance.

Francis gave a voice to the growing population of Hispanic Catholics and appointed diverse leaders, including the Church’s first African-American cardinal. Additionally, during his 2015 visit to New York, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, he spoke of his religious sisters, calling them “women of strength” and “fighters” at the forefront of the church. He went on to elevate the role of women within the Church by increasing their number and stature in the Vatican workforce and granting them voting rights in the Synod of Bishops.

Francis also worked to address one of the Catholic Church’s most painful legacies: clergy sexual abuse. He assembled a panel of experts with the goal of protecting children from pedophiles, improving screening for priesthood candidates, and supporting victims. In 2019, he expelled a Washington D.C. cardinal, proven guilty by the Vatican for sex abuse—the first defrocking of its kind in modern Church history—and convened a global summit on abuse prevention.

The 2021 documentary Francesco highlighted his views on poverty, racism, and the climate crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he urged the public to get vaccinated, explaining that the seemingly simple task was a profound act of care for the common good. Especially in his last couple of years, Pope Francis faced respiratory and knee issues along with other critical medical conditions and spent much of his time in a wheelchair; still, he remained optimistic and persevered. In 2023, he marked the 10th anniversary of his papacy, saying on a podcast that “the best gift would be peace.”

According to the “State of the Acad” survey released just two weeks ago, which received 61% student participation, 30% (120 students) of Milton’s student body identifies as Christian, a proportion that aligns with the estimated 31% of the world following Christianity. For the global population, a little over half of Christians are Catholic, and at Milton, most likely, the proportion is slightly less. Both Catholic and non Catholic students offered their views on Pope Francis.

Emlyn Joseph ‘27, a Catholic student, noted particularly how Pope Francis “promoted interfaith dialogue, worked on addressing the climate crisis,” and how “Pope Leo XIV has talked about continuing this progression for the future.” Aarav Agrawal ‘27, a non Catholic student, noted that even with his “limited exposure to the pope,” he realized that Francis’s “stance on issues such as his on LGBTQ members of the church is no doubt a huge forward leap for an institution that has a history of exclusion.” Emmett Burghardt ‘27, a student baptized Catholic but “not very active in the Catholic church,” highlighted in particular Pope Francis’s role in international diplomacy, helping to end 54 years of hostility between the U.S. and Cuba, and criticizing both Israel’s strikes in Gaza and President Trump’s immigration policy.

Still, Francis’s leadership was not without opposition. His inclusive tone, support for marginalized groups, and critiques of economic inequality drew criticism from some conservative bishops, particularly in the United States. On the other hand, some liberal Catholics still hoped for more doctrinal reform, such as allowing women into the priesthood. Noa Heikka ‘27, a student who grew up Catholic, mentioned that with any Pope, he would hope for some progressive change, but especially for Francis, who brought so much symbolism of change, Heikka expected slightly more. While bringing much progress to an institution of tradition, Pope Francis remained relatively moderate. Remembering the change moves slowly in the Church, rather than rewriting doctrine, he focused on shifting attitudes, opening doors, softening language, and empowering a new generation of leaders to carry the Church forward. Some may say that he pleased no one, but as Burghardt concluded more optimistically, “No matter one’s beliefs around Pope Francis, one must concede that he was an incredibly motivated individual who truly saw the spirit of God in humanity.”

Now, the world’s gaze turns to his successor because on May 8, the conclave of Cardinals elected Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost. Though more reserved in demeanor, Leo, the second Pope from America and the first from the U.S., has already indicated that he will continue Francis’s progressive vision. In fact, about Pope Leo, his brother John Prevost said, “The best way I could describe him right now is that he will be following in Francis’s footsteps.”

In his final “first,” Pope Francis chose to be humbly buried, becoming the first Pope in over a century to be laid to rest in a simple wooden coffin rather than an intricate three-layered one. Then, his dying wish, now fulfilled, was to have one of his “popemobiles” converted into a mobile health unit for children in Gaza, a final initiative to provide care to those who need it and to protect basic human dignity. Pope Francis may not have fulfilled every expectation, but he undoubtedly pointed the Catholic Church in a direction where it can remain a guiding light in the modern age. A pope of firsts, he has now met his last, yet leaves behind a legacy of humility, courage, and global compassion.