Pope Francis, a Pope Close to Us

8May, 2025 | Actuality, General Congregation

Pope Francis, a Pope Close to Us

17-XII-1936 to 21-IV-2025

Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Church, announced from Casa Santa Marta that at 7:35 a.m. on 21 April 2025, Pope Francis returned to the house of the Father, having dedicated his whole life to the service of the Lord and of the Church. The cardinal added that Pope Francis taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage and universal love, especially towards the poorest and most marginalised. He concluded his statement by giving thanks for the life of the Pope and entrusting him to God, one and triune.

Pope Francis began his pastoral ministry as Vicar of Christ, successor of Saint Peter, on 13 March 2013. The first Latin American Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was of Argentine origin, born in Buenos Aires. He was a chemical engineer and then entered the Society of Jesus. In 1958 he began his novitiate and was ordained a priest in December 1969. He served as Provincial; subsequently he was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1997 and created cardinal in 2001, before assuming the supreme pontificate in 2013. He always conveyed an image of a man of the people, close and humble.

Francis changed the pastoral way of embodying the papal service. It is worth highlighting his project of ecclesial renewal through the Synod on Synodality. The fruits of this synod have left an open path to a Church faithful to the Second Vatican Council; a Church open to the signs of the times; a Church open to learning to listen to the Holy Spirit. Listening is not an end in itself; dialogue implies building paths and change, Pope Francis affirmed. His name, Francis, was from the very beginning an invitation to walk towards a poor Church close to the social wounds of our time. Therefore, the Pope fully embraced the necessary reforms to address the abuse of vulnerable persons.

Pope Francis was deeply concerned for refugees, migrants and the poor, and always took a clear stance in favour of life, interreligious dialogue and the protection of the climate and ecosystems. He remained close to religions and world leaders to promote world peace.

The thought of the Pope expresses the closeness and care that he had for so many human realities that needed to be illuminated by the Gospel. His thought can be found in relevant ecclesial documents such as:

Encyclicals:

  • Lumen Fidei (29 June 2013)
  • Laudato Si’ (24 May 2015)
  • Fratelli tutti (3 October 2020)
  • Delixit nos (24 October 2024)

Apostolic Constitutions and Exhortations:

  • Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013)
  • Amoris Laetitia (19 March 2016)
  • Gaudete et exsultate (19 March 2018)
  • Christus Vivit (25 March 2019)
  • Querida Amazonia (2 February 2020)
  • Laudate Deum (4 October 2023)
  • Exhortation on Trust in Love (15 October 2023)

Pope Francis and the Order of the Pious Schools

We present a brief synthesis of the Pope’s closeness to the Pious Schools:

  • 12 January 2016. Pope Francis received in private audience Fr Pedro Aguado in the context of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the foundation of the Order of the Pious Schools and the 250th anniversary of the canonisation of Saint Joseph Calasanz.
  • 30 August 2016. Pope Francis appointed the P. General, Fr Pedro Aguado, as Consultor of the Congregation for Catholic Education for the five-year term 2016–2021.
  • 27 November 2016. Pope Francis sent a message to the whole Order of the Pious Schools on the occasion of the Calasanctian Jubilee Year.
  • 15 October 2017. Pope Francis proclaimed a new Piarist saint, Saint Faustino Míguez de la Encarnación, founder of the Calasanctian Institute of the Daughters of the Divine Shepherdess.
  • 10 November 2017. Pope Francis received in private audience the Council of Major Superiors of the Pious Schools, the Piarists of the General Houses in Rome and the formation house of Italy, the community of the General House of the Piarist Sisters, the General Council of the Fraternity, and all the staff of the General Curia.
  • 10 October 2018. Pope Francis received the document of the second continental phase of the “Piarist Youth Synod” from the hands of Fr General Pedro Aguado.
  • 27 December 2018. Pope Francis appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cochabamba Fr Carlos Curiel Herrera, a Piarist religious of the Province of Brazil and Bolivia.
  • 21 February 2019. Fr Pedro Aguado, P. General, participated in the Meeting of Presidents of Episcopal Conferences on the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons, invited by the Holy See as a member of the Executive Council of the Union of Superiors General.
  • 2 October 2019. Pope Francis authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the Decree of Martyrdom of the Servant of God Joan Roig i Diggle, a layman and former pupil of the Pious Schools of Catalonia.
  • 15 October 2020. Pope Francis wrote to our P. General Pedro Aguado in his capacity as President of the Education Commission of the two Unions of Major Superiors about the Global Education Pact.
  • 26 April 2021. Fr Pedro Aguado presented to Pope Francis the Opera Omnia of Saint Joseph Calasanz and an image of the Virgin of the Pious Schools in private audience.
  • 03 January 2022. Pope Francis wrote a letter to the 48th General Chapter of the Pious Schools.
  • 14 February 2022. Pope Francis appointed P. General Pedro Aguado as Consultor of the Congregation for Catholic Education for the five-year term 2022–2027.
  • 2 February 2023. Following the reform of the Roman Curia dicasteries, Pope Francis ratified the appointment of P. General Pedro Aguado as Consultor of the Dicastery for Culture and Education for a five-year term.
  • 15 May 2023. Pope Francis travelled to Hungary, during which the Pious Schools of Hungary showed numerous signs of closeness in organising the visit.
  • 20 May 2023. Pope Francis declared Venerable Fr Pedro Díez Gil, Sch. P.
  • 28 November 2024. Pope Francis received in private audience the participants of the Calasanctian Family gathering, the general communities in Rome, the Italian formation community of the Nazareno College and the Italian formation community of the Calasanzianae Sisters.
  • 29 March 2025. Fr General Pedro Aguado was appointed by Pope Francis as Bishop of the dioceses of Jaca and Huesca.
  • Several generations of young Piarists taking part in the Calasanz Route or the Piarist Formators’ Course were able to greet the Pope personally during general audiences.

A Homily close to Pope Francis’s Figure

During the funeral Mass of Pope Francis on 26 April 2025, Cardinal Re delivered a beautiful and accurate homily. We recall here a fragment which aptly describes Pope Francis: “He was a Pope among the people, with a love open to all… His charisma of welcome and listening, united with behaviour attuned to the sensibilities of our time, touched hearts, seeking to rekindle moral and spiritual energy. The primacy of evangelisation was the guide of his pontificate, spreading a clear missionary imprint: the joy of the Gospel.”

Pope Francis devoted his last years of pastoral and priestly life to integrating the great human community. He has left us a legacy through which we can look each other in the face and share the joy of the Risen One in each of us.

Thank you, Pope Francis, for your closeness!

Julio Alberto Álvarez Díaz, Sch. P.