To say that I am not religious is an understatement. As I often said, without any venom or condescension towards the faithful, I simply have no need for imaginary friends.
I was born Catholic, though in a family that never practiced religion. Despite living in a nominally atheist state, my dear Mom, who is perhaps best described at the time as agnostic, made me read up on religion at a young age, including Sunday school catechisms. Although I didn’t quite phrase it this elegantly at the tender age of nine or ten, my reaction was simple astonishment: Adults believe this stuff? Frankly, my storybooks with heroic knights battling seven-headed fire-breathing dragons to save a princess in distress made a heck of a lot more sense than some of the stories in those unassuming little textbooks.
I wanted to add this preamble to describe where I am coming from when I contemplate the passing of Pope Francis. For all his faults which, undoubtedly, were numerous, he was by far the most decentest pope in my lifetime, if not in many lifetimes. In short, he practiced what he preached. Rather than embracing papal opulence, he began his reign by walking back to his hotel room, paying his bill and grabbing his modest suitcase. Instead of occupying the lavish papal residence, he opted for a more modest guest house in the Vatican.
That already told me that hey, this Jesuit who named himself after St. Francis of Assisi, not only preaches but also practices humility.
But the decisive moment came in 2013 when he said, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”
This told me all I needed to know about the new Pope. Sure, he said and did things that I find vehemently disagreeable. Yet, by leading by example, he also demonstrated that even today, nearly 2000 years after that young man was nailed to a tree, and even at the highest level of the Catholic Church’s hierarchy, decency and humility are not completely absent.
There is something symbolic about the fact that Pope Francis passed away during the Easter holiday, when Western Christianity celebrates the resurrection of their messiah.
PS: Decent people should refrain from mocking J. D. Vance as being one of the last persons to see the Pope alive, and presumably causing his death. I have no love lost for J. D. Vance, but it demeans and insults the legacy of a Pope who uttered the words: “Who am I to judge?”