Pope Francis: Apostle of World Peace and Hope

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 to Italian-immigrant parents in Argentina, Pope Francis’ life has been marked by simplicity and solidarity with the poor.

Apr 22, 2025

By EMN

Op-Ed

Vatican City – Over a decade into his transformative papacy, Pope Francis stands as a tireless apostle of peace, compassion, and hope. From the slums of Buenos Aires to the world’s biggest stages, the 88-year-old pontiff has devoted his life to serving the downtrodden, bridging divides between nations, extending mercy, fighting injustice, defending the sanctity of life and family, and championing the planet. In words and deeds, he has emerged as a unifying moral voice in an era of conflict and inequality.
A Shepherd for the Poor and Humble Beginnings
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 to Italian-immigrant parents in Argentina, Pope Francis’ life has been marked by simplicity and solidarity with the poor. As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he was dubbed the “slum bishop” for his frequent visits to the city’s villasmiseria, where he ministered to those living in poverty and despair. These early experiences shaped the man who would become the first Latin American and first Jesuit pope in 2013. He took the name Francis in honour of St. Francis of Assisi – the medieval saint renowned for peace, humility, care for the poor, and love of creation. From his first moments as pope, Francis signalled a new era of humility: appearing on the balcony of St. Peter’s without the usual regal cape and gold cross, wearing the same simple cross he had worn as a parish priest. He chose to live in a modest guesthouse rather than the ornate papal apartments and swapped the bulletproof limousine for a simple Ford Focus. “How I would like a Church that is poor and for the poor,” he declared days after his election– setting the mission statement for his papacy.
Pope Francis quickly put these words into action. His very first trip outside Rome was to the tiny island of Lampedusa in July 2013, where countless migrants had perished trying to reach Europe. There, the Pope mourned the “globalisation of indifference” – a world grown cold to the suffering of others. “We have become used to the suffering of others… It doesn’t interest us. It’s not our business,” he lamented, urging a return to compassion. Later that month, in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, he walked the muddy paths to meet families and insisted “no one can remain insensitive to the inequalities that persist in the world”, calling for a “culture of solidarity” to replace selfishness and individualism. Such moments – a pope in the slums, a pastor on the margins – endeared Francis to millions and signalled the Catholic Church’s renewed commitment to serving the poorest of the poor. He established charitable initiatives in Rome (from showers and clinics for the homeless near the Vatican to personally sheltering refugees) and created an annual World Day of the Poor to keep society’s most vulnerable at the heart of the Church’s consciousness. Through these acts of service and solidarity, Pope Francis has lived out his gospel maxim that “true power is service” and that the Church must be “a poor Church for the poor”.

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On the global stage, Pope Francis has emerged as a daring reconciler of warring nations and a diplomatic bridge-builder. In 2014, barely a year into his papacy, he played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in brokering the historic thaw between the United States and Cuba, helping mediate secret talks that ended a half-century of Cold War estrangement. Both President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raúl Castro publicly thanked Francis for his moral leadership in facilitating dialogue. The following year, during a visit to Cuba, the Pope urged a continued path of reconciliation: “we want to be a Church which goes forth to build bridges, to break down walls, to sow seeds of reconciliation,” he preached at Cuba’s holiest shrine. It was a message he would carry days later to the United States, addressing Congress and the United Nations with an appeal for peace and mutual respect among former foes.

Francis’s efforts to reconcile divided peoples span the globe. In the Holy Land, he brought Israeli and Palestinian presidents together for an unprecedented prayer for peace in the Vatican Gardens in 2014, imploring that “the culture of encounter” replace the cycle of conflict. In Colombia, he supported peace talks that ended decades of civil war, traveling there in 2017 to urge Colombians to take “the first step” towards national reconciliation. Perhaps the most dramatic example came in 2019, when Pope Francis hosted the rival leaders of South Sudan – a nation torn by civil war – for a spiritual retreat. At the retreat’s conclusion, the 82-year-old pontiff stunned the world by kneeling to kiss the feet of South Sudan’s president and rebel vice president, begging them to keep the peace. “I am asking you as a brother to stay in peace. I am asking you with my heart, let us go forward,” he implored, urging them not to return to a bloody civil war. Aides had to assist the Pope, hobbled by age and chronic knee pain, as he lowered himself to the floor in this unprecedented act of humility. The image of the Pope literally on his knees for peace captured his papacy’s essence: a servant of peace willing to cross any boundary – geographic or personal – to halt the tears of war.

Pope Francis has repeatedly used his moral authority to promote global peace and defuse crises. He has dispatched personal envoys to conflict zones, offered the Vatican’s good offices for mediation, and led the Church in prayer and fasting for peace – as he did during the Syrian war threat in 2013 and more recently for Ukraine. Since the eruption of war in Ukraine in February 2022, Francis has made passionate appeals for peace at nearly every public appearance, sometimes twice a week. “Never again war!” he exclaimed in his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti, calling the total elimination of nuclear weapons “a moral and humanitarian imperative” and urging that war not be seen as a solution in the 21st century. Though frustrated by the persistence of conflicts, he has persisted in diplomacy – meeting with refugees and leaders from Ukraine and Russia, and even rebuking Russia’s Patriarch for supporting the invasion, saying religious leaders must be agents of peace, not “altar boys” for war. From the Middle East to Africa, from Latin America to the Korean Peninsula, Francis’s consistent plea has been for dialogue over violence, reconciliation over retaliation. In a world still riven by war, he has kept alive the hope that through perseverance and prayer, even the deepest enmities can be healed.

If one word could summarise Pope Francis’s spiritual focus, it might be “mercy.” Early in his papacy, he proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy (2015–2016) dedicated to forgiveness and reconciliation, reminding a divided world of the healing power of compassion. “It is time to return to the basics and to bear the weaknesses and struggles of our brothers and sisters,” he wrote, urging the Church and society to rediscover kindness and solidarity. During that Holy Year, Catholics everywhere were asked to forgive old grievances and seek reconciliation, and the Pope himself became a global ambassador of mercy. He visited prisons and washed the feet of inmates (including Muslims and women, in a break with past tradition), symbolically demonstrating that no one is beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness. He made surprise visits to the sick and the drug-addicted, and he commissioned “Missionaries of Mercy” priests to travel the world facilitating healing confessions. At a Mass closing the Year of Mercy, Francis implored humanity to keep open the door of forgiveness: “Let us ask for the grace of never closing the doors of reconciliation and pardon, but rather of knowing how to go beyond evil and differences, opening every possible pathway of hope”. It was a fitting summation of his belief that forgiveness is the gateway to peace – in our hearts, our families, and between nations.

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis has modelled the power of forgiveness in action. He has met with former guerilla fighters and their victims in Colombia to help them embrace and forgive one another after decades of bloodshed. He has publicly forgiven the man who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II, welcoming him in Rome. In 2022, Francis travelled to Canada for a historic act of contrition: he personally apologized to Indigenous peoples on their land for the “deplorable evil” of Church-run residential schools that abused Indigenous children. With tears in his eyes, he begged forgiveness for the sins of Church members, calling it part of a “journey of healing” and reconciliation with Indigenous communities. Indigenous survivors described the gesture as bringing a measure of peace, even as work toward full reconciliation continues. Francis often says “God never tires of forgiving – it is we who tire of asking for mercy.” He has made a point of hearing confessions himself during youth gatherings, and even in the public eye he is not afraid to show vulnerability – famously asking at nearly every appearance, “Please, pray for me,” as a humble request for forgiveness and support. Under Pope Francis’s guidance, the Catholic Church has increasingly presented itself as a “field hospital” – binding up wounds through mercy, rather than a tribunal of harsh judgment. In a world torn by division, his emphasis on mercy and reconciliation offers a path to bridge personal and communal divides, reminding all that “each time we go to confession, God embraces us” and that we too can embrace one another in forgiveness.

Pope Francis’s voice has been one of the most forceful on the global stage in confronting social injustice, poverty, and inequality. With his characteristic candour, he has denounced an economic system “based on the worship of the god of money” and “throw-away culture” that discards the poor and vulnerable. “This economy kills,” he warned bluntly in his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, critiquing unfettered capitalism and global indifference to misery. Visiting a favela in Brazil in 2013, he urged the world’s rich to do far more to uplift the poor, insisting that “no one can remain insensitive to the inequalities that persist” and exhorting young people to keep their “sensitivity towards injustice” alive. Francis has emerged as a tribune for the oppressed, speaking out on behalf of indigenous peoples, unemployed workers, landless farmers, and migrants stranded at borders. He convenes grassroots activists at the Vatican (in events called the World Meeting of Popular Movements) and tells them he supports their fight for "land, lodging, and work" (Tierra, techo, trabajo,). Acknowledging criticisms from some elites, Francis wryly noted, “I know some people think I’m a bit of a pest for defending the poor, but it won’t stop me”. Indeed, he once joked that he will continue to “make a pest of himself” by persistently questioning social structures of sin that foster exclusion and inequality.

Throughout his travels, the Pope has shone a spotlight on those left behind. In the Philippines, he wept with survivors of a devastating typhoon and decried the neglect of the poor in natural disasters. In Nairobi’s Kangemi slum, he denounced “new forms of colonialism” that perpetuate urban poverty. He has scolded world leaders at forums like the U.N. and Davos, telling them not to ignore the cry of the poor: “No one can remain deaf to the cry of the poor”, he told the powerful, urging them to examine their conscience about the structures that create poverty. Under Francis, the Vatican itself has taken concrete steps for justice: for instance, the Pope demanded and oversaw the forgiveness of debts for impoverished nations, and he reformed Catholic charities to prioritize direct service over bureaucracy. He has also linked arms with other faith leaders to call for equitable development – co-signing a 2019 declaration with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar promoting human fraternity and denouncing extremism and exploitation.

Crucially, Pope Francis has bridged the once-yawning gap between the Church’s pro-life stance and its social justice mission. He has insisted that caring for the unborn and caring for the poor and oppressed are not opposing or unrelated causes – they spring from the same core belief in human dignity. In a major 2018 document on holiness, he cautioned Catholics not to give “excessive importance” to certain ethical rules while ignoring the plight of the downtrodden. He urged those who fight abortion to show equal passion for the lives of “the poor and oppressed”, uniting concern for life at all stages with the struggle against poverty and injustice. In Pope Francis’s view, social justice is integral to peace – “if people die of hunger, have nothing to eat or suffer from poor health, that’s nothing [to some]. This is our crisis today. A Church that is poor and for the poor has to fight this mentality,” he said, decrying a world that treats financial crises as tragedies while yawning at human suffering. Those words, spoken early in his papacy, continue to drive initiatives like universal basic income proposals and calls for fairer economic systems. Whether addressing factory workers or refugees, Francis consistently champions the dignity of every person and the moral urgency of reducing the gaping inequalities that lead to conflict. In his simple phrases – “the poor cannot wait”, “we have to build an economy of inclusion” – he echoes the biblical prophets, stirring the conscience of a world that, as he says, “has forgotten how to cry” for its most vulnerable.

In Pope Francis’s worldview, all human life is sacred – from the tiniest child in the womb to the frailest elder drawing final breaths – and he has been an unflinching advocate for the sanctity of life in all its stages. While he approaches these issues with compassion and nuance, Francis has spoken with striking clarity against what he calls the “throwaway culture” that treats some lives as disposable. He has forcefully upheld the Church’s opposition to abortion, even using stark language to jolt public conscience. “Is it right to take a human life to solve a problem? … Is it right to hire a hit man to solve a problem?” he challenged at a 2018 gathering, insisting that “it is not right to kill a human being, however small, to solve a problem”. Such frank words – comparing abortion to hiring a contract killer – underscored his conviction that eliminating vulnerable life can never be a just solution. At the same time, Pope Francis has expanded the Church’s consistent ethic of life. He has denounced euthanasia and assisted suicide as part of a throwaway mentality that abandons the elderly and sick. And in a historic development in 2018, Francis revised the Catholic Catechism to categorically reject the death penalty as “inadmissible” in today’s world, declaring it an attack on the inherent dignity of the person. This move – ending any Church toleration of capital punishment – was hailed by human rights groups and criticized by some conservative politicians, but the Pope was firm that no matter the crime, “all life is sacred” and no one should be legally put to death. The Vatican under Francis actively works for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, aligning with his broader calls to protect life in every form.

Pope Francis also consistently links peace and the sanctity of life. He argues that true “pro-life” values must oppose not only abortion and euthanasia but also war, violence, and the arms trade that put countless lives at risk. In addresses to the U.S. Congress and the United Nations in 2015, he urged an end to the global arms trade and spoke out against the nuclear weapons stockpiles that threaten humanity. He has called the use or possession of nuclear arms immoral, pressing for disarmament in line with the Church’s evolving stance that even the threat of nuclear war is unacceptable. Francis often cites how hunger and poverty kill thousands daily – “invisible assassins” that a truly pro-life society must combat with the same urgency as it combats abortion or euthanasia. This comprehensive view of life has led him to some of his most courageous stands. In predominantly Catholic Philippines, he commended efforts to treat drug addicts with rehabilitation rather than the lethal “vigilante” methods that claimed many lives. He has spoken against capital punishment even in cases of terrorism, maintaining that justice must always respect the God-given dignity of human life. In a 2019 visit to Abu Dhabi, he and other religious leaders declared bluntly: “Life is sacred, we must safeguard it from conception to natural death.” By framing issues of life and death in terms of human dignity and solidarity, Pope Francis appeals not only to Church teaching but to a common humanity: he invites all people of good will to “defend the unborn, defend the poor, defend the vulnerable, defend the elderly who are often thrown away… defend life at every stage.” In doing so, he positions the Catholic Church firmly as a champion of the voiceless and a critic of any ideology or system that treats human lives as expendable.

Pope Francis often says, “The family is the first school of human values, where we learn the wise use of freedom.” He has been a stalwart defender of the sacredness of the family, even as he encourages the Church to approach modern family challenges with both truth and grace. In 2014–2015, Francis convened bishops from around the world for rare back-to-back synods (meetings) on the state of the family, listening to lay couples share about the joys and struggles of marriage, child-rearing, poverty, migration, and more. Arising from this consultation, he issued Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”) in 2016 – a landmark exhortation on love, marriage, and family life. Its opening line set the tone: “The joy of love experienced by families is also the joy of the Church”. In this document, Francis celebrated family love as the bedrock of society and “the primary vital cell” of communities, even while frankly acknowledging that no family is perfect and all need God’s grace and mercy. He upheld traditional Catholic teaching that marriage is a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, open to life, but also urged pastors to better accompany those who fall short of that ideal – such as divorced Catholics or struggling couples – rather than dismiss them. “Who am I to judge?” he famously said early in his papacy when asked about individuals, like gay persons, sincerely seeking God. That merciful attitude has marked his approach to family ministry: understanding that upholding the family also means supporting real families in all their messy reality.

During his travels, Pope Francis has been a warm champion of family values. At the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in 2015, he spoke passionately about how every home can become a “sanctuary of love” and reminded society to value the contributions of grandparents and extended family in transmitting faith and culture. He frequently extols the role of mothers – likening a society without mothers to a world without love – and the importance of fathers who are tender yet strong role models. He also shines light on families carrying heavy crosses: meeting often with families of prisoners, or those who have children with disabilities, and offering them words of comfort and inclusion. In his catechesis (teachings) on family, he insisted that a measure of civilization is how it treats family unity and protects children’s upbringing. Pope Francis has also been vocal against modern threats to the family, be it economic pressures that force parents to work excessive hours away from home or ideologies that treat marriage as disposable. In countries experiencing social turmoil, he has encouraged people to rebuild society by first rebuilding their families, emphasizing forgiveness at home, shared meal times, and prayer as a family. Yet Francis’s defence of the family is never merely idealistic: he acknowledges real difficulties – domestic violence, infidelity, financial stress – and has told couples that saying “sorry” and “thank you” often, and never ending the day angry, are keys to lasting marriage. By upholding the sacredness of the family, Pope Francis is effectively upholding what he calls the “fabric of society.” He calls the family “the factory of hope”, the place where the next generation is nurtured in virtues that can transform the world. And by promoting policies that support families – from decent housing and work to parental leave – he links family values with social justice, insisting that loving, stable families are not just a private good but a common good that deserves protection and promotion.

When Pope Francis published his environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ (“Praise Be to You”) in June 2015, it marked the most significant papal pronouncement on ecology in history – and cemented his role as a global champion for climate action and care for creation. In that sweeping document subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home,” Francis made a moral and spiritual case for urgent environmental responsibility, insisting that humanity must hear “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” He wrote that the Earth, “our sister,” is being mistreated and “groans in travail” under the impact of human selfishness. The encyclical, addressed not just to Catholics but “to all people of good will,” implored governments, industries, and individuals to act now to halt environmental degradation and climate change. “Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with disdain,” Francis warned, calling for an “ecological conversion” in hearts and communities worldwide. He affirmed scientific consensus on global warming and linked it directly to a “throw-away culture” that also tolerates social injustice. Notably, Laudato Si’ emphasizes that climate change and poverty are intertwined – the poorest suffer the worst effects of a warming planet, and thus ecological action is a form of justice for the poor. This message resonated far beyond the Church: the encyclical influenced the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement negotiations, with world leaders like the U.N.’s secretary-general crediting Pope Francis for adding a much-needed ethical impetus to climate discussions.

Since Laudato Si’, Pope Francis has continually championed ecological responsibility as a core component of peace and human solidarity. He established September 1 as an annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church. He convened scientists and faith leaders to brainstorm climate solutions, and even brought oil executives to the Vatican to urge them toward cleaner energy. When then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, Francis expressed deep pain “because the future of humanity is at stake”. In 2021, he launched the Laudato Si’ Action Platform to guide Catholic institutions toward sustainability goals ranging from carbon neutrality to biodiversity protection. And in October 2023, ahead of international climate talks, he issued a follow-up exhortation, Laudate Deum, warning that “time is running out” to limit catastrophic climate impacts. Always, Francis ties this work to spiritual values: gratitude for God’s creation, a humble sense of humanity’s place in nature, and responsibility to future generations. He has cited St. Francis of Assisi’s example of living in harmony with creation and has added care for creation to the traditional Catholic “Works of Mercy.”

Beyond climate, Pope Francis has spoken out against other environmental sins: deforestation of the Amazon (he convened a special Synod in 2019 to hear the cries of the Amazon’s indigenous peoples and forests), pollution of oceans with plastics, and the wastefulness of consumer culture. During a 2015 visit to the Philippines, he lamented that the world has “forgotten how to show compassion” for our Earth as we chase short-term economic gains. He calls for a new model of progress that respects both people and planet, often repeating his call for “integral ecology” – a vision linking environmental health with human and social health. In an address marking Earth Day, Francis stated simply: “If we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us.” Such stark warnings, combined with hopeful calls to action, have made him a moral leader in the climate movement, admired by secular environmentalists and people of all faiths alike. Under his guidance, the Vatican became the first carbon-neutral state, and Catholic dioceses worldwide have planted millions of trees and divested from fossil fuels as acts of faith. By championing ecological responsibility, Pope Francis is effectively expanding the definition of peace – peace not only among peoples, but peace with the Earth itself. As he wrote in Laudato Si’, “We have one common home”; to care for it is to sow the seeds of a hopeful future where, in his words, “future generations can live in a healthy environment, live in peace and security.”

In an age of turbulence – marked by wars and refugee crises, by widening rich-poor gaps and an escalating climate emergency – Pope Francis has consistently lifted a beacon of hope. With a simplicity that disarms and a sincerity that inspires, he has used the moral pulpit of the papacy to redirect the world’s gaze toward those who suffer and towards the higher ideals of fraternity, justice, and peace. He is a pope of firsts (first from the Americas, first Jesuit, first to take the name Francis), but his ultimate legacy may be in making the ancient role of “Pontiff” – literally, a bridge-builder – newly relevant for a fractured modern world. Whether embracing a man disfigured by disease in St. Peter’s Square, quietly slipping out of the Vatican at night to feed the homeless, or convening rival factions for a handshake and prayer, Francis has redefined leadership as service and showed that gestures of love can have geopolitical impact.

Not everyone has agreed with his approaches – he has faced criticism from various sides, including those who feel he is too political and those who wish he would go further – yet his popularity among ordinary people remains striking. He has been nicknamed the “People’s Pope” as he wades into crowds with an infectious smile, carrying babies or wearing gift bracelets from children. In Fratelli Tutti, he wrote, “Only a culture of social and political encounter can lead to lasting peace”, encapsulating his conviction that meeting each other as brothers and sisters is the way forward. As an apostle of world peace, Pope Francis has sought encounter over confrontation at every turn. He has kept reminding the world’s powerful of their responsibility toward the weak, and reminding the masses of their own power to do well. When history books are written, Pope Francis’s era may be remembered as one where the leader of the Catholic Church stepped boldly into global issues – not with might or wealth, but with the moral clarity of the Gospels – to uplift the poor, reconcile enemies, and call humanity back to its better instincts.

In a recent interview, Francis reflected on his mission with characteristic humility: “I just want to be a man who prays, who loves, who serves.” As he approaches the 12-year mark of his papacy, that simple desire has manifested in extraordinary ways. From washing the feet of prisoners to addressing Congress, from apologizing for historical wrongs to challenging the economic status quo, he has made the world his parish – and peace his paramount prayer. Under the gentle guidance of Pope Francis, countless individuals have found renewed faith in humanity’s capacity for goodness. His life’s work, echoing his namesake St. Francis, has been to make us instruments of peace. And as conflicts and crises continue to test the global community, Pope Francis’s unwavering example as a bridge-builder and servant-leader lights the way toward a more compassionate and united world – a world where, as he often says, “we recognize that we are all brothers and sisters”, bound by a common home and a common destiny.

THURSDAY, APRIL 09, 2026

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