Dear Fordham,
Against the odds, Pope Francis lived through Easter, and now we mourn him, comforted by the hope of the resurrection, knowing God has welcomed his faithful servant home. During his last weeks, he found the energy to go out several times, thanking the medical staff who nursed him, blessing inmates at a prison, and surprising visitors to St. Peter’s in his wheelchair, because he wanted to be with the faithful.
Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was always an outsider, from an immigrant family that escaped Mussolini’s fascism to immigrate to Argentina. He was the first pope from the Americas and the southern hemisphere, and the first Jesuit pope. He took the name of Francis of Assisi, the patron of the poor, and decided against living in the lavish Vatican palace. My favorite image is of him driving his own 1984 Renault around Rome.
During his twelve-year tenure, Francis embodied the Jesuit way of proceeding as he moved the Church in the direction of its people, loving the Church enough to improve it. With his trademark humility, he urged the global Church to become the dream of the Gospels, one in which a justice rooted in love prevails, one that listens to its people. He reminded us that we are “fratelli tutti”—brothers and sisters all. He begged us to love God’s creation and the Earth our home, to act quickly to change the dangerous trajectory of climate change. His voice was a clarion call to the world.
We at Fordham responded to his call. Our graduate students developed the Pope Francis Global Poverty Index, which they present annually, inspired by his call for us to make an impact on poverty and well-being. When he convened the three-year Synod on Synodality, a process of listening, dialogue, and discernment that included all the voices of the Church, Fordham sent a delegation of students to the Vatican. When Fordham hosted the Outreach Conference, he sent handwritten letters of support about the power of engagement. His emphasis on social justice, inclusion, and environmental stewardship leaves a lasting legacy—one that calls each of us to continue his work.
I was blessed to meet Pope Francis when I traveled to Rome with a group of Fordham trustees and faculty. Our board chair, Armando Nuñez, spoke to him in the Pope’s native Spanish and we presented him with a Fordham jersey. He smiled and blessed our great University.
As we mourn his passing, take some time today to read his profound writings and sit with his messages. Nothing can honor him more. Let us answer his call to care for the most vulnerable, to build bridges rather than barriers, and to live our faith with courage, mercy, and love.
With Prayers,
Tania Tetlow
President
