The funeral procession, which, today, will take place along the streets of Rome, to lead His mortal remains, to “Santa Maria Maggiore”, where they will be buried, is emblematic of a bishop, who, even after death, gives himself up to the embrace of ordinary people, telling us to do the same.
Humanity, faith and humility have been the hallmarks of His high magisterium. Indeed, His magisterium has put the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the center by overthrowing prude, prudential attitudes and geography of distances.
The last among the last have daily attended Pope Francis: homeless people, women and trans victims of prostitution, illegal immigrants, prisoners, men and women put on the margins, by that rich world, which produces despair, exclusion and death.
A frequenter of the great metropolises, from Buenos Aires to Rome, he traveled through them moving on public transportation and, when he became pope, in a simple utility car, like a worker, a wage earner, an ordinary citizen.
A refined intellectual, he knew how to speak with simplicity by decentering himself to make room for God's people. All of His public speeches always ended with the request, “ Please do not forget to pray for me.”
Migrants and peace were the two major issues around which Pope Francis reoriented the pastoral care of the Catholic Church, recalling its preferential option for the poor and its vocation to evangelical poverty.
The resumption of synodality, as the collegial government of the Church, has sanctioned a major new phase in the implementation of the Second Vatican Council. Moreover, having presented himself to the world, from the very beginning, as the Bishop of Rome, has also reopened the way for ecumenical dialogue and made possible a significant rapprochement with the patriarchates of the Orthodox Church.
Bari, with its basilica of St. Nicholas, has been chosen, by Francis, to become the fulcrum of this dialogue, in function of a religious diplomacy of Peace, between East and West, in an Apulia ark of Peace and not arch of war.
A great interpreter of interreligious dialogue, Bergoglio has built a strong and deep relationship with Islam, materialized in the sharing of important documents, which have barred the way to the clash of civilizations. Thanks to all this, the Muslim world has been recognized as central and important, in promoting peace, social justice and the spiritual growth of human and social contexts.
Deeply Latin American, he brought to St. Peter's Square the religiosity and devotion of the ejaculatory prayers and invocations to Mary and the Heart of Jesus, in which the strength and poignancy of a popular, simple, but never trivial faith is condensed. A faith capable of developing critical sense and mobilization from below of a church that stands alongside the least and the voiceless.
With the cardinal appointments, made over the course of these years, he freed the Church, from a certain conditioning with respect to the West and the capitalist world.
Today, the Conclave, which will elect the new pope, is the most universal in Church history, and numerically the Western cardinals are balanced with those from the Global South and the East, who, therefore, will have a voice and weight.
If one tries to dissect Francis by dividing his humanity, faith and humility, one misses the meaning of his magisterium, which lies in his being a bishop. In fact, the synthesis of his magisterium is well expressed in the Crucifix he wore around his neck during the years of his pontificate, depicting the Good Shepherd with sheep on his shoulders.
A good pastor, he wanted to point to great teachers and witnesses who have marked the path of the national churches.
His visits to Barbiana, at the tomb of Don Lorenzo Milani and to Alessano and Molfetta, at the tomb and in the diocese of Don Tonino Bello will remain memorable in this regard.
Francis, a man of peace and faith, hands us today the task of stopping World War III, building planetary fraternity and rethinking the development model, in terms of an integral ecology.
Our cities must be the place where this spiritual springtime of the world can and must flourish. In fact, It is in the cities that people experience all the contradictions and fears of our time, and it is from the cities, that a newfound popular voice of peace must rise up, so that it may be the new spiritual cipher of the time to come.
Corrado Nicola De Benedittis - Mayor of Corato
https://www.coratonews24.it/attualita/521/funerali-di-papa-francesco-la-nota-del-sindaco-de-benedittis