LYNNE WALSH previews the Bristol Radical History Conference this weekend
Pope from the periphery
With the death of Pope Francis, the world loses not only a church leader but also a moral compass
Pope Francis with migrants in Bologna, Italy, in 2017
Keir Starmer’s £120 million to Sudan cannot cover the government’s complicity in the RSF genocide or atone for the long shadow of British colonialism and imperialism, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
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WHEN Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope in 2013, he came almost from “the ends of the Earth,” as he himself put it. That single sentence immediately set the tone: this pope would be different.
As the first Jesuit and the first Latin American to hold the seat of Peter, he chose the name Francis — referring to the saint of Assisi, known for his poverty and solidarity with the least fortunate.
And this was more than symbolic. Francis resolutely moved to the margins of society: to migrant camps, war zones, and climate summits. His decision not to live in the papal palace but in a simple room, to exchange the popemobile for a modest Ford, and to trade grandeur and glitter for simplicity was not a PR stunt. It was a principled choice. He wanted to be a pope of the poor, for the poor.
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