Editorial: Pope Francis inspired with compassion, mercy

If there was one moment that exemplified the work and message of Pope Francis it would be this the late Pontiff embracing Vinicio Riva a man covered in the disfiguring growths of neurofibomatosis in November Riva like so plenty of others made his way to St Peter s Square in the Vatican hoping for a glimpse of the pope He got so much more Riva who died in recounted the Daily Mail I m not contagious but he didn t know that But he just did it he caressed me all over my face and as he did I felt only love He came down from the altar to see the sick people He embraced me without saying a word I felt as though my heart was leaving my body He was comprehensively silent but sometimes you can say more when you say nothing First I kissed his hand while with the other hand he caressed my head and wounds Then he drew me to him in a strong embrace kissing my face My head was against his chest his arms were wrapped around me It lasted just over a minute but to me it seemed like an eternity Pope Francis wasn t a politician courting votes or a virtue-signaling celebrity earning social media clout He was quite literally doing the Lord s work That is the core message of the Pontiff s life one that may be drowned out as his death Sunday is filtered through the lens of media agendas The Daily Beast ran the headline Pope Francis Dies at the day after meeting JD Vance There will doubtless be criticism of the Catholic Church its doctrines hierarchy and traditional values That s white noise the enduring takeaway is that Pope Francis lived his faith and inspired others to do the same Too often that means swimming upstream in a nation and world that s increasingly polarized and where families are fractured because relatives cast opposing votes Pope Francis weighed in on hot-button issues offering a view untainted by political or lucrative agenda In his encyclical Laudato Si he wrote of earth as our common home and called out environmental degradation The Pontiff evolved in terms of certain centuries-old Church doctrine In his first year as Pope he shocked a great number of by saying If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will who am I to judge There are those who dismissed the good works of Pope Francis because of the church s stance on abortion its troubled history scandals and general views on organized religion That s a shame No one can be excluded from the mercy of God The Church is the house where everyone is welcomed and no one is rejected he once revealed Catholics and non-Catholics were fortunate to have such a man who walked the talk preaching forgiveness compassion and embracing those whom others shunned The world is poorer for his loss There will of lesson be a new pope with rampant speculation on what kind of Pontiff he will be Whomever is the choice we hope he will embody and build on the immense spirit of organization and grace that was Pope Francis Editorial cartoon by Joe Heller Joe Heller