21 April 2025, 14:24 | Updated: 21 April 2025, 16:05

By Shelagh Fogarty

If I had to choose just two words central to the papacy of Francis, they would be ‘migration’ and ‘synodality’. If I were allowed a third, I’d say ‘folksy’.

One of his first trips after becoming Pope in 2013 was to the island of Lampedusa off the Italian coast.

It was then and is still one of the hot spots of global migration. He placed flowers in the water for all those who had died attempting to reach Europe. His focus on the humanity of every individual refugee never wavered.

Just a week ago, he fired a shot across the bows of US bishops, some of whom appeared to be showing explicit political support for President Trump.

He wrote ‘any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality’ was wrong. It was a scolding for sure.

The true shape of Christian love is the ethos of the Good Samaritan. Keeping it simple, as ever.

I think his language on migration is really interesting and is a massive challenge to the politicians of this world.

I sometimes heard him speak about it and thought it was beautiful, loving, maybe politically naive, but I think there's always space for a bit of beautiful and a bit of loving when it comes to human beings.

So I think that will be one of his abiding legacies - he really took the question of human migration and often the pain behind it and the poverty behind it very seriously.

Synodality, meanwhile, is anything but simple. He held a synod on synodality for goodness sake!

He clearly believed it was the basis for Catholic unity. At its driest, synodality denotes the life and mission of the Church, the People of God journeying together and gathering in assembly, led by the Holy Spirit.........

© LBC