Very Rev. Dr. Nicolas Kazarian
The casket is closed. Pope Francis reposes at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in accordance with his will. The Pope wanted his funeral to be a reflection of his tenure: simple and close to the most vulnerable. The world will remember, however, the numerous heads of State and global leaders that attended his final journey from Saint Peter’s Basilica through Rome to his last resting place. This image encapsulates the paradoxical tenure of Pope Francis: a simultaneous strength in weakness, and an influence drawn from humility. Within this frequently contradictory existence emerged opportunities for building bridges between different communities. Here is the real legacy of Pope Francis.
Twelve years ago, the appearance of Pope Francis on the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica was more than a simple succession after the surprising resignation of Benedict XVI. It was a moment of profound realignment for the Roman Catholic Church, which chose as its leader a man from the Global South, where the numerical center of gravity of Catholicism now firmly resides. It was an act of boldness and spiritual audacity.
At first, many clergy and faithful may not have fully understood the significance of the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit from Argentina, a continent accustomed to ideological and social upheavals. From the beginning, his ecumenical commitment was questioned to the extent that nobody knew what to expect from his papacy. The presence of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at his installation was a promising sign in this regard. The attendance of the Patriarch at the funeral of Francis became a further confirmation of the Pope’s unique vision for reconciliation. In between these historic events, Bartholomew and Francis met again in Jerusalem in 2014 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic encounter between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras. This same year, Pope Francis also visited the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In 2016, they visited the Greek island of Lesvos together to raise awareness to the tragedy of the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. In the same year, he also met with His Beatitude Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow in Cuba, years before he would call him, after the invasion of Ukraine, “Putin’s altar boy.”
Through such actions, Pope Francis revealed himself not merely as a pope of continuity, but as a pontiff of audacity, a fighter willing to enter every contested arena where Rome seemed anxious or vulnerable. The first Jesuit pope, formed in the spiritual discipline of St. Ignatius of Loyola, embraced a dynamic vision of the Church: one in which the Gospel is not simply taught, but lived, with a passion that could cross traditional divides.
What has emerged as the essential and perhaps most lasting aspect of Pope Francis’ pontificate is not a doctrinal revolution, but a reversal of method. Rather than confronting the contemporary world by opposing it with rigid teaching, he insisted on welcoming it in a spirit of mercy. His was a pedagogy of accompaniment, inviting each person into a personal rediscovery of the Gospel’s truth, Christ Himself. He brought this sense of compassion and urgency to the creation of seminal documents like Laudato si’ (2015) on the environment, and Fratelli Tutti (2020) on fraternity and social friendship.
Francis was a pope of the peripheries, a defender of those left voiceless by the steamroller of globalization. His method, however, was sometimes difficult to discern. Out of a deep concern for the Other, he initiated an unprecedented dialogue with Islam, Judaism and many faith traditions. At the same time, he authorized, under strict conditions, the blessing of same-sex couples, not as an endorsement of new moral norms, but as an expression of pastoral mercy and compassion. Yet he reaffirmed in no uncertain terms the Catholic Church’s condemnation of abortion and upheld the discipline of priestly celibacy. Mercy and doctrine, distinct but not separated, coexisted in his vision.
Nevertheless, the paradox remains: Francis is often more appreciated outside the Catholic Church than within it. In many ways, this is a sign of his true apostolic fervor. He sought to shift the Church’s witness away from narrow moralism toward the urgent social questions of the globalized age: poverty, migration, injustice, war, and environmental devastation. In this, Francis showed himself to be a child of the “Theology of the People,” an Argentine offshoot of Liberation Theology that rejects Marxist ideology but remains committed to the dignity of every nation and every poor person.
Predictably, he faced accusations of populism, particularly for his suspicion of the institutional structures of the Roman Curia, preferring direct contact with ordinary believers and world leaders. His papacy was marked by a lonely exercise of authority, often bypassing traditional channels of governance. In this, too, the Orthodox may recognize familiar patterns: the tension between conciliar governance or synodality and charismatic leadership, a tension not easily resolved in any apostolic Church. The last Synod on synodality spoke directly to this Orthodox experience.
In the USA, however, the papacy of Francis has laid bare a significant fracture within Catholicism itself. His emphasis on mission and mercy has polarized Catholics into two broad camps: the “identitarians,” who stress tradition and cultural continuity, and the “missionaries,” who favor outreach and adaptation. This internal division mirrors, in some ways, the Orthodox experience of tensions between those who emphasize the preservation of national traditions and those who call for renewed engagement with a pluralistic world. This tension is not unknown; however, because the papacy is a symbol of unity, the effect of this tension on the Orthodox Church has generated more fragmentations.
In Orthodox–Catholic relations, the Francis era has opened a new horizon of possibility. The 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea was meant to be an exceptional celebration, particularly in a year when Christians from East and West celebrated the Feast of Christ’s Resurrection together. Time will tell whether the conversations sparked by the hope for a unified date for Easter/Pascha will become its lasting legacy, a new bridge of reconciliation.
But let us give the last words to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: “In an atmosphere of great Paschal joy, this morning, Monday of Renewal Week, came the sorrowful news of the repose of Pope Francis, a precious brother in Christ, with whom from the very moment of his ascent to the papal throne, we had a fraternal friendship and collaboration for the good of our Churches, for their further rapprochement, and for the good of humanity.”
https://publicorthodoxy.org/2025/05/12/pope-francis-and-the-orthodox/
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