Pope Francis — Champion of Inclusion, Dies at 88

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pope francisPope Francis; Photo: Ashwin Vaswani / Unsplash

Posted By: The Rainbow Times April 21, 2025

By: Christine Nicco/TRT Reporter—

VATICAN CITY—The most pro-LGBTQ+ Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has died. He passed away on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, following a stroke and subsequent irreversible heart failure, according to the Vatican.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Dec. 17, 1936, he was the first ever Jesuit Pope throughout the history of Catholicism. He was also the first Latin American Pope.

Pope Francis’ Papacy began in 2013 and marked a turning point in the Catholic Church’s tone toward LGBTQ+ people; as he worked to build a more inclusive and compassionate Church.

Francis’ focus on society’s most marginalized broke through in his book “Hope: The Autobiography”. In the months leading up to his death, Pope Francis continued to advocate for their inclusion within the Catholic Church. In his book, published in January 2025, he decidedly wrote:

“Everyone in the Church is invited, including people who are divorced, including people who are homosexual, including people who are transgender,” the book reads.

Furthermore, he condemned the criminalization of homosexuality in some 60 countries around the globe, according to National Catholic Reporter (NCR).

“Homosexuality is not a crime, it is a human fact, and the Church and Christians cannot remain indifferent in the face of this criminal injustice, nor can they respond faintheartedly,” the pope wrote.

Regarding women, the pontiff supported access so that the female diaconate remained open to further study and that women should be involved in the training of the church’s future priests, said the NCR.

 

POPE OF HUMILITY, THE POOR

From the moment he became the head of the Catholic Church, Francis changed the approach to formalities at the Vatican. Instead of accepting his cardinals’ “congratulations while seated on the papal throne, Francis received them standing.”

In addition, he chose the name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, a Saint whose main concern was the “well-being of the poor,” reported The Guardian. He explained that, as he knew of the conclave vote, Brazilian Cardinal Cláudio Hummes embraced him and whispered, “Don’t forget the poor,” which made Bergoglio think of Saint Francis of Assisi (CNN).

“He brought to Christianity an idea of poverty against the luxury, pride, vanity of the civil and ecclesiastical powers of the time. He changed history,” said Pope Francis to Maclean’s (macleans.ca) in March 2013 in reference to the Saint.

Unlike most other Popes, Francis chose not to live in the official papal residence in the Apostolic Palace, according to National Catholic Reporter. Instead, he stayed in the Vatican guest house, because in that suite he could receive visitors and hold meetings. Pope Pius X was the first pope to live outside the papal apartments.

 

“GOD MADE YOU LIKE THIS”

From the beginning of his papacy, Francis signaled a shift. In July 2013, when asked about gay priests, he said, “Who am I to judge?”—a five-word phrase that would come to define his approach to sexual orientation and identity.

In 2018, he comforted Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean survivor of clerical abuse who is openly gay, by telling him, “God made you like this and loves you like this.” Cruz later shared the remark publicly, calling it life-affirming and healing. (Time magazine)

Francis would go on to take significant steps that broke with the Church’s previous posture. Under his leadership, the Vatican allowed blessings for same-sex couples—a gesture short of marriage but one the Church had never formally permitted.

He approved guidance that allowed transgender people to be baptized and to serve as godparents. In 2023, he called for the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide.

“Being homosexual is not a crime,” Francis said in an interview that year. “Yes, but it’s a sin? Fine, but first let us distinguish between a sin and a crime.”

While conservative critics accused the pope of sowing confusion, many LGBTQ+ Catholics expressed hope and gratitude for his leadership.

“For the first time, I felt like the pope saw me — like I belonged in the Church,” said Michael Vazquez, a theologian and LGBTQ+ advocate based in New York. “He wasn’t perfect, but he opened the door wider than it had ever been.” (NPR)

 

FRANCIS’ CHRISTIANITY UNLIKE MAGA’S

Francis also frequently found himself at odds with conservative political figures, most notably President Donald Trump. The two clashed on immigration, climate change and nationalism. Francis criticized border walls, urged compassion for refugees and rejected populist ideologies that exclude the poor and marginalized.

Their ideological distance was evident during Trump’s presidency. When asked about the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in 2016, Francis responded: “A person who thinks only about building walls … is not Christian.”

In sharp contrast, President Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, referred to Francis as “the people’s pope,” saying he embodied humility, mercy and justice. (The Guardian)

“Pope Francis will be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders of our time and I am better for having known him,” Biden said to The Guardian. “For decades, he served the most vulnerable across Argentina and his mission of serving the poor never ceased. As Pope, he was a loving pastor and challenging teacher who reached out to different faiths.

“He commanded us to fight for peace and protect our planet from a climate crisis. He advocated for the voiceless and powerless. He made all feel welcome and seen by the Church. He promoted equity and an end to poverty and suffering across the globe,” Biden added. “And above all, he was a Pope for everyone. He was the People’s Pope – a light of faith, hope, and love.”

 

LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY

Despite opposition from within the Church, Francis remained committed to dialogue and reform. Though he never endorsed same-sex marriage within Church doctrine, his efforts to welcome LGBTQ+ individuals marked the most significant shift in Catholic leadership in modern times.

His legacy, many believe, will be defined by his efforts to bring the Church closer to those long pushed to the margins.

“He reminded us that God’s love isn’t reserved for the perfect,” said Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, which serves LGBTQ+ Catholics. “It’s for all of us.” (America Magazine, AM)

Furthermore, AM published a handwritten letter The Pope sent to Sister Gramick in 2022, in which he praised her for “50 years of LGBT ministry.”

“You have not been afraid of ‘closeness,’” he wrote, “and in getting close you did it ‘feeling the pain’ and without condemning anyone, but with the ‘tenderness’ of a sister and a mother. Thank you, Sister Jeannine,” the letter concluded, “for all your closeness, compassion and tenderness.”

According to the magazine, “Pope Francis’ letter to Sister Gramick is the latest in a series of letters from the pope written to gay Catholics and others who are serving and advocating for L.G.B.T. people.”

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NOTE: The management of The Rainbow Times, LLC sends its condolences for the passing of a true Pope of the People, all of the People (not just some). We will miss Pope Francis and our community, surely, will miss His message of love and acceptance, something new to us all that other Popes had viciously condemned. His true Christianity was felt around the world, by so many members of underrepresented groups. The world’s Christians will truly miss his Holiness.

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