Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, pays tribute to Pope Francis and, in this video reflection, shares his personal thoughts on the Holy Father and the impact of his ministry as the 265th successor of St Peter.
I’m sure everybody has their own memories and recollections of Pope Francis. Mine are both personal and in some ways, wide-ranging. I remember when he was first elected, I sat down and read the document he had written [as a Cardinal] in 2007 called the ‘Aparecida Document’ – from all the Latin American bishops. That gave a clear understanding of what his agenda would be.
Simply put, he took the Vatican Council’s definition of the Church as the People of God, and he turned it into a community of missionary disciples. That’s what he has been pursuing – a Church in which everybody has a missionary call, everybody has a part to play. And that we have seen that unfold in his development of a consciousness of the gifts of God in every member of the Church, and the need to work together more clearly, with greater intent, on the mission of the Church.
Pope Francis was very strong-minded. He said what he thought. He encouraged other people to say what they thought, and he was not afraid of disagreement. Alongside that strong-mindedness, I also found in him an immense sensitivity to individuals.
A little story… At one dinner, I sat next to Alexander McCall Smith, the author, who rather sheepishly gave me a couple of his books asking whether I would give them to Pope Francis.
The next time I met Pope Francis, I said, “These are from an author, who said he’d like me to give you these books.” “Thank you,” said the Pope. He came back to the meeting after the lunch break with a handwritten note to Alexander McCall Smith, thanking him for his books and asking me to give him one of the Pope’s books in return as a gift. So with no consequence, he just paid attention to the individual who had expressed this kindness to him.
We saw the same kindness in very different circumstances when the Pope met with victims of human trafficking. We had just launched the Santa Marta Group for the fight against human trafficking, and after that meeting, we were posing for a photograph and I was standing next to the Pope. He literally nudged me in the ribs and said, “This meeting is a lot more important than many I go to. So please keep it going.” So I’ve tried.
Another great characteristic of Pope Francis was his Jesuit inheritance, tradition, and soul. This meant that he always had an eye for what brings people closer to God, and how that is to be discerned and judged. He always asked us to look at whether these steps, which are possible for this person, might bring them closer to God. Not the complete journey, but as a step on the way.
In a way, that’s summed up in his constant use of the word ‘accompaniment’. We are to accompany people rather than rule and govern. We are to encourage people to take the next step. I saw that over and over again in his relationships with people.
The other great characteristic of his approach and spirituality was his insistence that we start at the periphery. That was a word he loved. He used that word often. Start with the peripheries. We saw it in the choices of countries he chose to visit. They weren’t the great capitals of the world, they were the smaller places on the edge, under threat, excluded in some way.
I remember in Westminster, we were starting a centre to encourage unemployed people to start their own businesses. It was right next to all the big hotels and the great Wembley Stadium, and I remember saying, “If Pope Francis were to come to London, this is the place he’d want to come to, not to Wembley Stadium.” He always prioritised those in need, those who suffered exclusion, those who needed those words and steps of encouragement.
There’s no doubt his impact on the Church going forward has been tremendous. It’s not as if he tried to impose, he tried to draw out from this great, rich, worldwide community of the Church, to whom he was a pastor, steps that will get us closer to God.
May he rest in peace.
