From reconciliation to peace and climate justice: the enduring legacy of Pope Francis
With sorrow and gratitude, KAIROS joins communities around the world in mourning the passing of Pope Francis. A global spiritual leader and tireless advocate for justice, Pope Francis was a beacon of hope and compassion in a time marked by deepening inequality, environmental crisis, and conflict.
Pope Francis embodied and championed many of the values that KAIROS and our global partners hold dear. His unwavering calls for peace with justice, most recently in his final Easter message where he implored for peace in Gaza, resonated powerfully with movements for human dignity and the end of war. His solidarity with migrants, his commitment to Indigenous Peoples, and his consistent challenge to the structures of economic injustice made him a rare moral voice on the world stage.
In July 2022, Pope Francis made a historic visit to Canada that focused on Indigenous healing and reconciliation. At the Maskwacis community in Alberta, he delivered a long-awaited apology for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in Residential Schools, expressing deep sorrow and shame for the “catastrophic” harm inflicted on Indigenous children, families, and communities. This apology, though met with a range of reactions, was a significant moment for many survivors and signaled a willingness to engage in the difficult and ongoing work of truth, justice, and reparations. It also underscored the essential role of listening to Indigenous voices and centering their experiences in the path forward.
His Pilgrimage of Peace to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2023 further demonstrated his commitment to standing with those affected by protracted conflict, colonial legacies, and injustice. In South Sudan, he travelled alongside leaders of the Anglican and Presbyterian churches, emphasizing the ecumenical nature of peacebuilding. There, he received a list of recommendations from Women Link, a program of the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) – a KAIROS partner. He also listened with humility to women survivors of violence, youth yearning for stability, and communities struggling under the weight of displacement and war. As the SSCC recently expressed, his presence in the region was not only historic—it is still urgently needed.
Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, remains a landmark in eco-theology and climate justice, recognizing the inseparable link between care for creation and care for people who are marginalized. KAIROS will honour the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’ with a week of reflections from May 24–31. The theme, “Raising Hope,” complements the Jubilee: Turn Debt into Hope campaign launched by the Global Ecumenical Jubilee Committee and Caritas Internationalis for Jubilee 2025—an initiative Pope Francis inaugurated on Christmas Eve 2024.
In the face of what he called “the globalization of indifference,” Pope Francis offered a compelling counter-vision: a world built on love, justice, and solidarity and a theology centred around and shaped by the most marginalized His partnership with popular movements, his prophetic stance against structural sin, and his deep humility in service to the marginalized will continue to inspire and guide us.
Pope Francis’ life and ministry leave a legacy of courageous faith, risky solidarity and hopeful action. We give thanks for his witness. May he rest in peace and power.
