On April 21, Pope Francis died at the age of 88. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 in Argentina, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1958, was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. In 2001, Pope John Paul II named him a cardinal. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis was elected as his successor on March 13, 2013.
As the University of Notre Dame joins the Church and the world in mourning Pope Francis’ death, the University’s faculty experts reflect on his papacy, life and legacy.
“Pope Francis was the first pope from the Global South, now Catholicism’s demographic center, and that has been hugely meaningful,” said John McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost and Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History. “This is reflected in his focus on the poor — a core theme of Latin American theology since the 1970s — and on migrants and the environment. It is also reflected in his commitment to ‘inculturation’ of the liturgy and Catholic life into local, often Indigenous cultures.”
According to McGreevy, Pope Francis also did more than any predecessor to “diminish the monarchical dimensions of the papacy.”
“His informal personal style, the willingness to carry his own luggage and live in Santa Marta, all reflected a caution about the idea of the pope as a prince of sorts,” McGreevy said. “He is continuing the legacy of John Paul II and Benedict XVI here, but in a much more pronounced way.”
In contemplating Pope Francis’ legacy, Rev. Daniel Groody, C.S.C., vice president and associate provost, turned to the pope’s own words: “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s Mercy,” wrote Pope Francis in Misericordiae Vultus. “These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith.”
“Pope Francis has reminded us throughout his life and through his words, gestures and actions that the Gospel message is fundamentally about God’s mercy,” Father Groody said. “For this reason, he chose as his motto ‘Miserando atque eligendo,’ which means, ‘The Lord looked on him with merciful love and called him.’ While alluding to Matthew’s call, he makes these words his own when he becomes a priest. This vision has always been at the core of his pastoral work, and it took on a global significance when he was elected pope.”
Pope Francis was also “a pope of many firsts,” said David Lantingua, associate professor of theology and the William W. and Anna Jean Cushwa Co-Director of Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism.
“He is the first Jesuit pope, the first South American pope, and the first pope to write a social encyclical on the environment,” Lantingua said. “He is also the first pope of the 21st century who did not attend and participate in the momentous global meeting of over 2,000 bishops known as the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). With nearly 60 percent of those bishops at Vatican II coming from outside Europe, and nearly half of those outside Europe from Latin America, the papacy of Francis appears to be a sign of the times for a religion that comprises one-fifth of the world’s population, most of which resides outside of Western Europe and in the global South.”
Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor of American studies and history, concurred, saying, “For evidence of the impact Pope Francis has had on the global Church, we have to look no further than our own University.
“The late pope’s priorities have shaped Notre Dame’s strategic initiatives in profound ways,” she added. “Through its commitments to alleviating poverty and fostering health and well-being, Notre Dame has joined Pope Francis as a champion of human flourishing, especially within vulnerable populations. It would be impossible to conceptualize research on global Catholicism without reference to the first pope from the Americas, and what his life and legacy teach us about the church in the Global South.”
The bells in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart tolled to mourn the death of the Holy Father at 9 a.m. EDT Apr. 21. The doors have been draped in black bunting, and a photo of Pope Francis has been placed in the sanctuary.
Additional comments by Notre Dame faculty
University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. statement
Media Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, c.gates@nd.edu, 574-993-9220
Originally published by at news.nd.edu on April 21, 2025.