22/04/2025
Archbishop Stephen reflects on the life of His Holiness Pope Francis in the Catholic Herald today. The article follows in full
There is something fitting about the Holy Father, Pope Francis, dying on Easter Monday – or Monday of the Angels or Little Easter as this day is often known in Europe and South America. As the church recalls that through the message of an angel the Good news is announced ‘He is not here, he has risen’, so Christians of all denominations join in mourning the death of Pope Francis, but also sharing in the deep consolation that he now enters into the joy of the Lord in this Easter season. Indeed having delivered a final apostolic blessing in St Peter’s Square on the day of the Resurrection, this faithful servant of the Lord is called home to his Father’s house.
From my Anglican perspective with his emphasis on the poor, creation, evangelism and the renewal of the church, there was much to admire and welcome in Francis’s Pontificate. In his humility and his love for the poor and marginalised, he was instantly recognisable as a follower of Jesus, and it was this that instinctively drew Christians of all denominations towards him. He used his Pontificate and visits in various ways to draw attention to those parts of the church that are often forgotten or persecuted and his closeness to those living in fear or under conflict has been only too apparent.
Together with my fellow Anglicans, I share in the intense sorrow at the death of this good and holy man, who brought our churches ever closer together.
Pope Francis displayed what felt like a new ecumenical spirit. His was a pontificate of energised engagement, and genuine friendship, with the Church of England. This was epitomised in the ecumenical Pilgrimage of Peace to South Sudan, where Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Moderator of the Church of Scotland, together demonstrated how the Church can act as one in God’s service.
We have also seen the Anglican and Catholic primates officiate together in Rome; Anglican and Catholic bishops commissioned to minister alongside each other across the world; and evensong sung for the first time in St Peter’s Basilica. Under his pontificate, even cricket has become a channel for ecumenism, with regular tours of the Vatican XI to England, which Francis rightly saw as an opportunity to build bridges of fraternal solidarity and to promote Christian unity.
Ecumenism is not something we simply talk about – it is something we do. As Pope Francis said to me when we met in Rome, it is about walking together, working together, and praying together.
We prayed together that day, saying the Lord’s Prayer in our own language. Then and since, I have been struck by the immeasurable importance of that first word – ‘Our’. As Christians, every time we say this prayer, we declare our belonging to our shared Father in heaven – and our belonging to each other. Uttering that very first word allows us – to borrow from Francis’ homily at the Anglican Chaplaincy in Rome – to recognise one another as we truly are: brothers and sisters in Christ, inseparably united through our common baptism.
In choosing the name Francis he set a bold agenda for the rebuilding of the church, for the care of creation and seeking compassion, justice and mercy for all people but particularly the marginalised and displaced. So today, in common with many around the world, whatever our denomination, I pray for the soul of a faithful and holy Christian, one who bore the demands of his office with courage and determination, and who showed us in his ministry and mission, his living and his dying how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. May the angels lead him into paradise; may the martyrs receive him at his arrival and lead him to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive him and with Lazarus, once poor, may he have eternal rest.