VATICAN CITY, April 21 (Reuters) - Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican said in a video statement on Monday, ending an often turbulent reign marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the hidebound institution. He was 88, and had recently survived a serious bout of double pneumonia.
"Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis," Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican's TV channel.
"At 7:35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father."
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, surprising many Church watchers who had seen the Argentine cleric, known for his concern for the poor, as an outsider.
He sought to project simplicity into the grand role and never took possession of the ornate papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, saying he preferred to live in a community setting for his "psychological health".
He inherited a Church that was under attack over a child sex abuse scandal and torn by infighting in the Vatican bureaucracy, and was elected with a clear mandate to restore order.
But as his papacy progressed, he faced fierce criticism from conservatives, who accused him of trashing cherished traditions. He also drew the ire of progressives, who felt he should have done much more to reshape the 2,000-year-old Church.
While he struggled with internal dissent, Francis became a global superstar, drawing huge crowds on his many foreign travels as he tirelessly promoted interfaith dialogue and peace, taking the side of the marginalised, such as migrants.
Unique in modern times, there were two men wearing white in the Vatican for much of Francis' rule, with his predecessor Benedict opting to continue to live in the Holy See after his shock resignation in 2013 had opened the way for a new pontiff.
Benedict, a hero of the conservative cause, died in December 2022, finally leaving Francis alone on the papal stage.
Francis appointed nearly 80% of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope correct as of February 2025, increasing the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies, despite the strong pushback from traditionalists.
[ Please go to EDIT section below ]
Comrades, I am new to Marxism-Leninism and disappointed with the unproductive disrespect in this thread. Just as Russia could not be fixed in a few years, so the Catholic Church could not be fixed in twelve years. Just as anticommunist lunatics grossly exaggerate, decontextualize and lie about the errors of Stalin while downplaying the (awesome) achievements of the USSR, people here exaggerate and obsess about the limits of Pope Francis and the problems that still exist in the Church.
This is bad for class consciousness. Most of the working class is religious, and in the West that religion is Christianity. Here in Brazil, about 90% of the population is Christian and most are Catholic. One of the strongest right-wing disinformation is the narrative that "atheist elites want to take power and repress the Church" and you are handing over that debate on a silver platter.
Historical context! The Bolshevik disliked, even repressed, the Russian Orthodox Church because it was hard to discern where did the czarist State end and where did the Church begin. The Bolshevik may even have exaggerated, acting out of hatred -- just as the victims of Nazism sometimes acted out of (understandable) anti-German hatred, instead of focusing their indignation on Nazis (not all Germans).
But while Christianity is still gravely theocratic today, it is considerably less so than czarist Orthodox Church. Please focus your attacks on theocracy, not Christianity [or religion]. While anti-Christian sentiment was somewhat understandable during the Bolshevik revolution and the early years of the USSR, it is anachronic today.
This thread looks more like "new atheist" juvenile contrarianism than responsible communists who actually raise class consciousness to overthrow capitalism. You should know that New Atheism is terribly right wing, decidedly anticommunist, and cheerleads for mass murdering wars of aggression in the Middle East.
EDIT (please read)
I messed up. I misunderstood Hexbear, wrote a confusing comment, unintentionally offended you, then reacted badly to your angry replies, many of which misrepresented what I wanted to say. Now with hindsight, I ask you to read this:
I did not mean to accuse hexbearites of being bad like New Atheists. I wanted to use the antisocial behavior of New Atheists (fruitless anti-religious intolerance) as an anti-example. In my experience, leftists discern between “theocrat” and “religious comrade". I felt this thread was an outlier. But then I worded my comment in an confusing way, appearing to conflate you with New Atheists.
The accusation of loving war crimes in the Middle East is for foaming lunatic New Atheists like Sam Harris, not Hexbearites.
I meant that anti-religious bashing is easily misrepresented by right wing propaganda. I explicitly said that the “atheist elites” narrative is disinformation. Cubans practice their religions in peace, just not theocracy.
I did not mean all “true” Christians are Catholics or whatever.
I am a newbie and autistic (actual diagnosis). I care a lot for detail and took offense with misrepresentations. And I am still getting up to speed with the LGBT movement.
Today I realized this analogy. When Rede Globo (massive right-wing media corporation) sheds tears for "democracy", I wish them go pound sand. They supported the military dictatorship for decades, and still distort reality in favor of capitalism, NATO, and Israel. Becoming softer is not enough. I would forgive them if they actually switched sides.
So I can relate to trans people who look at the historical crimes of organized religion (such as the Catholic Church), and who suffer religious hate even today, saying they will only respect the Catholic Church if she actually switches sides. Malcom X said: stop sweet talking!
Sorry not sorry, but I'm not going to have any respect for some old corpse who compared being trans with the dangers of fucking nuclear weapons. And comparing criticism of him to the worst aspects of New Atheism is very silly. I'm not a right wing anticommunist apologist for war crimes in West Asia just because I don't care for the guy.
for fucking real, seeing people whine about how people shouldn't celebrate the Pope kicking the can is wiiiild
Also to say nothing of the fact that my experience of Christianity in my country is that it's relentlessly trying to kill me and people like me. If that wasn't the case, maybe I wouldn't have such a negative view of it. I'm sure people in other parts of the world have a different relationship to Christianity, but here it is used overwhelmingly as a vehicle for fascism.
Please see my edit in the original comment. I did not equate you with a drooling lunatic New Atheist like Sam Harris. Sam Harris is Ann Coulter with a different rhetoric. I do not equate you with that.
I contrasted the puerile antisocial behavior of new atheism (anti-religious intolerance) with the responsible attitude of communists who want to raise class consciousness and overthrow capitalism [and therefore theocracy]. Many years ago, when I still hang out in religious Internet forums, it was new atheists who came attack us day and night. When I converted to the left, I saw far more respect for religion. Leftists can actually discern between “theocrat” and “religious comrade". Until I saw this thread. This thread is an outlier. This is why I contrasted actual leftist critique of theocracy with New Atheism. New Atheists clearly don’t care about the working class, so they are not being counterproductive, just intolerant. This thread is counterproductive.
I'll accept that it may not have been your intention, but that's certainly how it came off to me and apparently a lot of other people with the way you worded it. I think what you're getting hung up on is people's criticism of the pope as a person and the Catholic Church as an institution, and conflating it with criticism of Christianity as a religion. You claim to stand against theocracy, yet you keep calling criticism of one of, if not the most, notorious theocratic institution, the Catholic Church, "counterproductive." Also, let me reiterate what a number of people have already said: this is not a party, this a niche internet forum. This is the internet equivalent of a communist dive bar. What is said here isn't affecting the struggle in the real world, it's just a place for people to chat and vent, the vast majority of which are queer and almost half are trans, many of whom have not had great interactions with Christianity to say the least. A lot of people here actually do that work in the real world, and I can assure you they aren't running around yelling at Christians simply for being Christians while trying to convert them to the cause, which is what would actually be counterproductive.
I did not mean that attacking the Catholic Church is equal to attacking the entire Christian Faith. I meant that those who attack the whole Catholic Church (instead of just Catholic theocrats) have the same attitude of those who say "evangelicals are fanatical hypocrites" instead of attacking only evangelical theocrats. Anticatholicism is not equal, but often analogous, to general antichristianity.
And many Catholics say the Church is not supposed to make a "culture war". The Church should do spiritual work, moral education, charity, and aid social movements such as landless workers. All that is compatible with secular values. The problem is when the Church indoctrinate the Faithful into enforcing anti-trans (or homophobic) politics, claiming that unisex bathrooms are a catastrophic threat to "Christian civilization".
The thing is: arguing against theocracy has some chance of convincing moderate Catholics to disavow theocracy. But attacking the entire Catholic Church is much more likely to cause them to hate the left and associate Marxism with New Atheism hate.
I messed up. Please see the new and improved EDIT section of my original comment. I hope I did not burn all bridges with you hexbearites.