Pope Francis’s legacy of compassion shapes the future of the Catholic Church
His worn shoes symbolise a papacy of humility and inclusion, setting the tone for his successor
As Pope Francis lay in state inside St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, his footwear attracted some attention. Instead of the traditional red shoes of the fisherman, the late pope’s were scuffed and well worn. These shoes of a shepherd testified to his great work, now done.
In his 12-year pontificate, Pope Francis flung open the doors of the Catholic Church. Instead of being a closed club of the supposedly virtuous, he saw the church as an ospedale da campo, a field hospital where the wounded may be healed. The Eucharist — for Catholics the summit of faith life — “is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak”, as he put it...
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