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In my view, the late Pope Francis really was the people's pontiff

Lancashire Evening Post

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June 07, 2025

You couldn't help thinking that, in the end, it went exactly according to the script.

In my view, the late Pope Francis really was the people's pontiff

After a long, painful period in intensive care battling serious illness in hospital, Pope Francis, although frail, turns up at St Peter's Square in Rome on Easter Sunday to bless the faithful, take a trip in his Popemobile to meet some of them and pays visits to some prisoners and homeless.

Then, on Easter Monday, he leaves this earth to his new address... thus ends one of the most remarkable papacies in history.

Pope Francis brought an air of simplicity to the office of pontiff.

Oh, make no mistake, he was a deep thinking man which was borne out by the spiritual advice he dispensed though his daily tweets to help vulnerable people like me on their journey, but what I mean is he preferred to downplay a lot of the trappings that go with that high office and embrace poverty just like the saint he was named after - St Francis - and reach out to the poor and needy and those who had fallen by the wayside.

My own son Frank, who is a priest, cherishes one moment in particular.

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