Francis was a pope for the people, even thoe who aren’t religious

By Lethbridge Herald on May 13, 2025.

Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On Thursday, United States Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the first US pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church and took the name Pope Leo XIV. Meanwhile, I was still mourning the passing of the first Latin American pontiff,  Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21.

During the early years of his papacy, Pope Francis famously said “Who am I to judge?” when asked about homosexuality in an in-flight interview during his papal visit to Brazil in 2013. When I read that, my first reaction was: “Uh-oh. Pope Francis said what?!?”

The right-wingers of the Catholic Church wailed that Pope Francis was “too progressive.” The left-wingers gnashed their teeth, crying the pontiff wasn’t progressive enough. As someone who sits in the centre politically, those extreme positions made me think that Pope Francis did his best to do things just right.

After all, the pope is not only the head of the Catholic Church and its flock of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide; he’s also a head of state and a diplomat.  Vatican City is a landlocked sovereign state and city-state. It has been its own fully-independent country since 1929.

Pope Francis was a “pastor in a mitre hat.” He positioned himself as a pastor, close to the people he served, often calling out the behavior of distant and sanctimonious priests. Beloved in Buenos Aires as a “simple pastor”, he continued his austere lifestyle as pontiff. For this and many reasons, I really liked this pope.

Pope Francis’ choice of cardinals from nontraditional countries and sees (jurisdictions) has dramatically shifted what used to be large and powerful representations within the College of Cardinals, such as the cardinals from Italy. During his papacy, Pope Francis chose 108 cardinals, many of whom were pastors from far-flung countries like Mongolia, Sweden, and Tonga that had never had a cardinal before. 

During the 2013 conclave that chose Francis, there were 207 cardinals, 117 of whom were eligible to vote. For the first time, 15 new nations have a voting cardinal, including Haiti, the Central African Republic, Myanmar, and Tonga.

One thing often associated with high-level clergy is personal wealth. According to a report from UNILAD, despite never drawing a formal salary as the Pope since his election in 2013, Pope Francis had an estimated net worth of nearly $16 million at the time of his death. 

The figure has raised eyebrows, and questions. How did a man who famously declined the luxuries of the Papal Palace, opting instead for modest guesthouse lodgings, quietly amass such wealth?

Vatican insiders suggested that his net worth largely stemmed from royalties, donations, and access to a discretionary fund of $385,000 per year as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet the Pope’s own ascetic lifestyle suggested he lived far below his means, directing most of his resources toward philanthropic and ecclesiastical causes. 

I’m not one to fault Pope Francis on having that wealth at the time of his passing. He certainly did not live like a priest with $16 million in the bank. The previous pontiff was dubbed “the designer pope” and purportedly wore Dolce and Gabbana shoes. 

The “people’s pontiff” is entombed near the Altar of St. Francis, in the niche of the side nave between the Pauline Chapel (Salus Populi Romani Chapel) and the Sforza Chapel. It is a simple tomb bearing only the inscription “Franciscus” and a reproduction of the late Pope’s pectoral cross.

When he passed, many family and friends I called  “Roamin’ Catholics” (because they weren’t really practicing Catholics anymore) publicly expressed their grief over the death of Pope Francis on their social media. I politely pointed out that I knew they had wandered away from the flock, to which they replied: “I know…but I liked this pope!”