At 88 years old, Pope Francis, the Catholic religious figure leading almost one and a half billion, passed away April 21.
Some people find it ironic that his passing occurred fewer than 24 hours after meeting the American Vice President, JD Vance, on April 20. The day he died also happened to be Easter Sunday. While it is unfortunate that he is gone, he has left a large and impressive legacy.
Media. Many people in the media have different perspectives and opinions on him, and some care less about his political beliefs and more about making JD Vance/Pope Francis memes. But some who do care about his politics are happy or even celebrating, on both sides. Why? While many believe he wasn’t accepting enough of things like gay rights and too anti-repentance, there’s also a large group that believe he wasn’t harsh enough. While both sides have differing views, they’re both happy to go from the devil they know, to the devil they don’t (no pun intended) and hopefully get someone who is more aligned with their views.
Despite this, there’s also a group of people who don’t know how to feel or think about the fact that he was more progressive than other former heads of the church. In a similar category, there’s some people that are afraid of getting another Pope who’s more “progressive” than what they want or hope for.
Saint Francis? There is a lot of talk on if he will be pronounced a Saint or not because of his non-traditional values and political views. Usually it takes five or more years after death to begin the process, but sometimes exemptions are made if some of the actions, miracles, or proof of divinity were considered concrete enough. The idea that a Pope would be declared a saint within our lifetime is a very surreal concept. Being able to say you lived in a time where saints walked the earth and were shown on television, that’s quite the achievement.
