#rip pope

The Pope is not just the Head of the Catholic Church. He is also the Head of State for Vatican City. In this sense, he is a diplomat and a spiritual leader. And in an age where most global leaders are falling over themselves to find the "right balance" between voicing their dismay over US policies on Gaza and Ukraine while not upsetting Trump too much to avoid steep tariffs, Pope Francis chose to be quite unequivocal about his position on infringement of human rights.

One of the last political duties performed by Pope Francis was to lecture JD Vance and his administration on the lack of compassion shown towards migrants!🤭 Further, one of his last public duties was to visit Rome’s central prison on Thursday to meet with dozens of inmates. Here is an excerpt from AP News Rome:

"Francis met for nearly a half-hour with some 70 inmates at the Regina Caeli prison in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood. It’s a prison Francis has visited before to perform the annual Holy Thursday ritual of washing the feet of 12 people to re-enact Christ’s gesture of humble service of washing the feet of 12 apostles before his crucifixion

Francis told the inmates he couldn’t do it this year, given his health, but wanted to nevertheless be with them and “do what Jesus did on Holy Thursday.”

The fact that the 88-year-old pope kept the appointment, when he is under doctors’ orders to take it easy and avoid crowds, was a clear sign of the importance he places on prison ministry and the need for priests to serve those most on the margins. That is all the more true during the 2025 Holy Year, which both opened and will close with special papal events for prison inmates."