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’ 2015 encyclical, Laudato si’: On Care for Our Common Home, was also “one of the most profound and enduring” gifts he gave to the Church and the world, said R. Scott Appleby, the Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Global Affairs at Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs.

“The letter’s exhortation to transform our relationship to nature and to one another by ‘heeding the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’ is a clarion call to end wasteful habits and selfish practices that exploit our planet’s resources and leave the poor to pick up the tab,” Appleby said.

Appleby said the pope’s words inspire Notre Dame’s work in poverty, peace, sustainability and environmental justice — all of which are key elements of the Keough School’s strategic focus. Those important pillars, as well as the University’s new initiative on a just transformation to a sustainable environment, are “directly inspired by Laudato si’ and by the teaching and example of Pope Francis,” he said.

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 today (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 and a statement from University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., are available.

Media Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, c.gates@nd.edu, 574-993-9220