Francis Wanted a Church of the Poor and Put It Into Practice

Throughout his papacy, Francis was an outspoken advocate for the downtrodden. Shortly after he was elected in 2013 he said, “How I would like a church that is poor and for the poor.”

But Francis, who died on Monday at 88, didn’t just pay lip service.

When the vehicle carrying his coffin pulls up at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he will be buried on Saturday, a group of “poor and needy” people will be waiting on the steps, the Vatican said this week. After all, the statement added, the pope “had chosen the name Francis to never forget them.” St. Francis of Assisi renounced his wealth to live in poverty.

Marginalized groups will be present at the funeral, the Vatican said Friday.

One of the first people to pay their respects when Francis was brought to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday was Sister Geneviève Jeanningros, who until last year lived in a camper in a fairground outside Rome, serving those in need. She was in regular contact with Francis, who visited the fairground, and images of her weeping in front of his coffin moved many.

Closer to his own home, Francis “strongly supported” transforming the Vatican post office located on the right side of the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square into a free medical clinic for the homeless and for undocumented migrants. The clinic opened in 2018 and averages 100 visits a day, said its director, Dr. Massimo Ralli.

“It’s putting the Gospel into practice because caring for people is one of the aspects of charity,” said Dr. Ralli. “So it absolutely mirrors the message of the Holy Father toward the least.”

Showers for the homeless were set up near the clinic. This week they are closed, because tens of thousands have poured into St. Peter’s to pay homage to Francis, who lies in state in the basilica. But the throngs do not seem to have caused any inconvenience to the homeless, who each night shelter under the square’s majestic colonnade.

Often, they use tents distributed by the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, an ancient office of papal charities to which Francis gave freer rein, under the leadership of Cardinal Conrad Krajewski.

In 2019, Francis blessed a four-story Vatican property behind the left colonnade of the Basilica when he opened a shelter that provides housing for about 50 people.

“The pope has had a very strong focus on the poor from the beginning,” said Carlo Santoro of the Sant’Egidio Community, a Rome-based charity that runs the building. Francis often ate with the homeless and invited them to annual concerts at the Vatican. He was also outspoken on prison conditions, and one of his final public outings last week was to visit inmates at Rome’s Regina Coeli prison.

“Francis gave immense emphasis to aid to the poor, not just the poor in Rome, but the poor around the world,” he added, citing trips by Cardinal Krajewski to take supplies to Ukraine. The most recent trip was this month.

These initiatives haven’t always gone down well with members of the Curia, as the Vatican administration is known. In the late 1980s, John Paul II and Mother Teresa opened a soup kitchen and dormitory for women inside the Vatican that still feeds dozens daily.

Both Mr. Santoro and Dr. Ralli expressed concerns that the next pope might not have the same priorities as Francis. That is a concern, too, of Piero Di Domenicantonio, the former editor of the Vatican newspaper, the Osservatore Romano, who began publishing a monthly street newspaper by and for the homeless three years ago when he retired.

“The paper incarnates everything Pope Francis taught us about social issues and service of charity,” Mr. Di Domenicantonio said. It was inspired by him, “and he encouraged us to continue.”

Francis also promoted his message of charity in more controversial ways, commissioning a contemporary sculptor to create works representing his inclusive vision for St. Peter’s Square.

The latest work, by the Canadian artist Timothy P. Schmalz, was installed this month on the colonnade directly in front of the clinic. Titled “Be Welcoming,” it depicts a person in a simple robe and sandals with a staff and angel’s wings. It was put there “to bring attention to what is behind,” Mr. Schmalz said in a telephone interview.

Six years ago, Francis commissioned another work by Mr. Schmalz depicting 140 migrants and refugees from various historical periods traveling on a boat. It includes Indigenous people, the Virgin Mary and Joseph, Jews fleeing Nazi Germany and those from war-torn countries. Francis had said he had wanted the statue in St. Peter’s Square “so that all will be reminded of the evangelical challenge of hospitality.”

Some critics had turned up their noses at modern works brushing up against the colonnade, designed in the 17th century by the Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Cardinal Krajewski had retorted, “It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t match the Berninis, it matches the Gospels,” according to Mr. Schmalz.

“That’s the courage of Pope Francis,” Mr. Schmalz said, “to bring the Gospels to the forefront.”