A message from Br Peter Carroll, Leader, Marist Association of Saint Marcellin Champagnat
Dear Members of the Marist Association
We join the 1.3 billion Catholics across the globe and millions of others in mourning the death of our Pope, Francis.
While he never visited our continent, he spoke strongly and vibrantly to it. He reminded us as a mostly affluent country, that we need to be concerned about those at the peripheries – of here and elsewhere. As a country that has experienced climate catastrophies he called us to take action to care for our home and our common home. As a country that is tempted to shun the ‘stranger’ he spoke passionately about our unity as brothers and sisters. When judgement and condemnation were not far from our lips he witnessed to inclusion and the outstretched hand.
He embodied joy. Who can forget some of the most incredible images of him: greeting children, embracing the ill and disabled, kissing the feet of prisoners, releasing doves into the sky! He not only wrote about “The Joy of the Gospel” but exuded it.
His words and writings were accessible, engaging, realistic, and made an impact. Other Popes may have been intellectuals, philosophers, theologians, but Francis was a man of the heart. Heart first but also head and hands!
There is significant symbolism in Francis suffering extreme bad health in past months, living through the Easter Triduum and then dying on Easter Monday. In all he did, Francis preached the Gospel of Life – he promoted life in all its forms. It’s as though his personal motto was John 10:10 – “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full”. His final Orbi et Urbi address, read by an aide on Sunday, was rich with calls for peace, mercy and forgiveness. It was a final message; a call for a new beginning.
Let me conclude with the words of Rob Harris, an Australian writer: “Francis will be remembered for many things – a reformer, a Jesuit, a defender of the poor. But perhaps the most enduring image will be of a dying man who refused to retreat, who carried his message past the point of pain and into history.
In his last Easter, Francis did not preach resurrection. He embodied it”.
Vale Pope Francis.
Br Peter Carroll
Leader