A 'Pilgrim of Hope', opens His Gates of Paradise; Pope Francis' legacy in the Holy Jubilee Year

 

On December 24, 2024, His Holiness Pope Francis performed the Opening The Holy Doors of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, launching The Jubilee Year of Hope, which is marked by The Roman Catholic Church throughout this year. Three more Holy Doors of Papal Basilicas followed in Rome. Usually sealed by mortat & cement from inside, The Holy Doors are opened only ahead of Jubilee Years, and closed at the end of the celebrations. This time, The 88-year-old Pontiff broke with tradition, opening apart from the four doors a fifth; that of a Roman prison in Rebibbia. None of those doors will be closed by this Holy Father, as was supposed to at the end of the Jubilee Year 2025 (and beginning of 2026).

His late Holiness, who passed away on The Easter Monday, had already experienced health problems over the past few years. Apart from his mobility issues, caused by knee pain & sciatica, Pope Francis went through short hospitalizations, and in 2023 underwent an abnominal surgery due to hernia. After cancelling a planned trip to The Democratic Republic of Congo & South Sudan in 2022, The Holy Father acknowledged that he was in "a new, slower phase of his Papacy". Later in the year, he started using a wheelchair in public, which was praised by disabled Catholics for "making his disability a part of his visible identity". The old, frail Pope was driven on his wheelchair to The Holy Doors, and knocked them while sitting, before they were swung open. Yet, his youthful spirit & deep personal messages were here to stay.

Dubbed as The Pope of The Poor, the Peripheries, and of the most vulnerable & marginalized groups, Francis - The Argentinian born Cardinal & Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio - set different tones to the pontiff's role from the beginning of his Papacy in March 2013. Using the title of Bishop of Rome, His Holiness preferred the simplest possible vestment of The Papal ornamentation, using his red garnments & bishop's miter only for exceptional occasions, like the opening of The Holy Doors ahead of The Jubilee Year. His Piscatory ring (which included the Papal Seal of his Reign) was made of Silver instead of gold, and he resided on the third floor of St. Martha's guesthouse (where he was hosted as a Cardinal during The Papal Conclaves of 2005 & 2013), forgoing The Apostolic Palace at St. Peter's Square. One of the mottos of Francis' ministry was that the Church out to reach out to the most disadvantaged of its members & that its sheeperds should smell like sheep. He realized his vision of an injured Church, part of its flock's reality, rather than a sick church, away from the people, by his personal example.

In his waning years, Pope Francis called and oversaw the Synod of Synodality, the 16th assembly of the Synod of Bishop, launched during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). This was the culmination of his Papacy. Not only did it successfully conclude on 27 October 2024 under the Theme: "For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, and mission", but it was also revolutionary on its own! For the first time all those involved in its proceedings, including women, were allowed to vote for proposed decisions. Based on the inclusiveness of all the faithful into the church's catechesis, it also discussed The Pope's apostolic exhortation "laudate deum", which was issued in October 2023 and focused on action against climate change, condemning its denial. Breaking with tradition of previous Synods, The Holy Father didn't publish another exhortation, bearing The Sovereign's excecutive authority for the conclusions, but instead ratified and published the final document of the Synod itself as a conclusion.

The elderly Pope's health failed during the hardest times of geopolitical tensions and ongoing conflicts with solutions far from reaching. While in hospital with a bout of respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia in his lungs (one partially removed since his youth), Francis monitored the situations in Ukraine & Gaza, having direct contact with the presbyterian of Gaza's Catholic Church. He never stoped calling for peace, justice, and humanitarian aide to the war-torn zones, not excluding the investigation of war crimes perpetrated. In his every address, from The balcony of St. Peter's Basilica or his office's Window of The Apostolic Palace, The Holy Father reminded of the people suffering in all kind of wars, repressive governments and natural disasters, from Haiti to Yemen, from South Sudan to Myanmar, from Syria to Afghanistan. He asked from leaders to prioritize dialogue over the use of weapons, while called for protection of the migrants (and other marginalized groups) a "duty of our civilization". In his last Easter Message, he repeated the plight for the layout of arms in suffering Gaza, handover of the Israeli hostages by Hamas, and a lasting ceacefire, which collapsed alongside his health.

It was Easter Sunday, April 21, 2025, when the world last saw Pope Francis alive. A joint Easter for all Christian denominations, for common date of celebration The Holy Father anticipated to achieve through interfaith dialogue with The Orthodoxy. His Holiness was frail, tired, and could barely speak. He had spent 38 days in hospital battling pneumonia, and two episodes of acute respiratory insufficiency nearly costed his life. And yet, The Pope decided to show up, and be among the faithful during the holiest day of The Jubilee Year, despite the command from the doctors to rest for at least two months. After his discharge from the hospital on March 23, The Pontiff made surprise appearances for The Jubilee of The Sick Service on April 6 and during The Palm Sunday Mass, April 13. He used oxygen support in the first, however there were suggestions that his health had been slowly improving.

On April 9, The Holy Father received King Charles III & Queen Camilla of The United Kingdom, after their planned State Visit to The Vatican City (& co-celebration of The Holy See's Jubilee Year) was cancelled due to its Sovereign's poor health. The visit coincided with The Royal Couple's 20th Wedding anniversary, their ceremony delayed by one day two decades before, so that Charles - then Prince of Wales - could attend The Funeral of Pope (Saint) John-Paul II. On Maundy Thursday, 16 April 2025, The Pope re-visited the Regina Coeli prison, where he used to wash the inmates' feet, following Jesus Christ's example before Crussifixion. Although His Holiness could not perform the rite this time, he told reporters that he wanted to be as closed as possible to those imprisoned, reminding his frequent call for penitentiary justice and repentative opportunity for everyone. The same day, he held his last audience at Vatican's Paul VI's Hall, welcoming & thanking all of the medical personell and nurses of the Gemeli hospital, that treated him for a good part of February and March; also honoring the Jubilee of health care workers.

The Easter liturgies (of Good Friday & Holy Saturday) were administered to different members of the clergy, since The Pope was no longer able to deliver them. On Easter Sunday, after the Service at St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis appeared on the balcony of The Basilica, the same balcony where he was introduced to the world from 12 years ago. His Holiness wished the thousands gathered a "Happy Easter" and blessed them after the 'Urbi et Orbi' delivered on his behalf by Archbishop Diego Ravelli. Soon afterwards, to much of the public surprise, The 266th Bishop of Rome was seen riding on his famour Popemobile through St. Peter's Square, and greeting the people, blessing babies, for the first time in many months; and for his last. Having asked his personal healthcare assistant, Massimiliano Strappetti, if "I could manage", The Holy Father did manage. and later thanked him "for bringing me back to the Square". Overcome by emotion, tired, but happy. Holy Sunday reached - mission fullfilled. Then came the fatal ischemic hemorrhage, which lead to heart failure, and a coma he wouldn't wake up from.

From the beginning to the end, His Holiness Pope Francis, by the world known as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal & Head of The Roman Catholic Church, Minister of Peter, 266th Bishop of Rome, Sovereign of The Vatican City, followed on the footsteps of The Lord. For 2025, The Jubilee year of Hope, a year of reconciliation, prayer & walking together, The Pilgrim of Hope Francis opened his own Gates of Paradise, leaving a heavy inheritance to befall on the shoulders of his successor in The Petrian Ministry, who will be called upon to close those Gates after his predecessor.

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Sources:

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