Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88 on Easter Monday, 21 April this year, was interested in soccer. I don’t know if he was also interested in cricket; it is possible, but not quite likely, since in the Pope’s homeland, Argentina, cricket is not all that common, certainly not competing with football. I am sure that the Pope, like other sports enthusiasts, cheered the Argentina Team, with Diego Maradona and the other famous players, when they won games. But then in his public life, the Pope always took the side of the poor, the weak, the oppressed, and all those treated badly by structures in society or powerful people. He was against the extreme aspects of the world capitalist system. He often spoke against corruption and people taking advantage of their political and other powerful positions to get economic and other benefits that they shouldn’t get.

The Pope was many times accused of not creating unity but divide in the Catholic Church. He was a compassionate religious leader, who would speak his mind and speak up for those who needed advocates, and it was obvious, indeed so when the Pope took up political and social issues, as he did frequently, that people disagreed. Yet, it is always the role of the religious leaders and associations, in the Church, Islam, and other associations to speak up for the poor and oppressed and point out wrongs are done to people. The religious associations have a moral authority that people will listen to.

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When Pope Francis became Pope in 2013, his name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and according to tradition, he chose a new name for his time as Pope. He chose Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi (c.1181-1226), who was a symbol of speaking and caring for the poor. Certainly, Pope Francis knew from the beginning of his papacy that being a ‘man of and for the poor’ would often be controversial, and also that it would put demands on his own style of living and........

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