[Pope Watch] The four final acts of Pope Francis

I had a bad feeling when I saw the photos of Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, April 20, giving his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica. 

While people cheered and a brass band played the majestic papal anthem, the 88-year-old pontiff was wheeled in on a wheelchair. Francis, whose eyelids were drooping, waved at chest level but hardly smiled. At that time, he was not just the Holy Father; he was a tired man.

“How long would he last in this physical state?” I asked myself. 

The answer came in less than 24 hours.

Hello, I am Paterno Esmaquel II, religion reporter of Rappler. This is Pope Watch, the Rappler newsletter on Francis’ death and the next conclave. 

This is also the start of a weeks-long papal coverage that Rappler aims to offer from a distinctly Filipino and Asian perspective. We invite you to bookmark our live updates page and join the faith chat room in the Rappler Communities app, where we can continue the conversation.

Like many people in various parts of the world, I am in a state of mourning, even as I try to make sense of the 12-year pontificate of Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio — the first Latin American and Jesuit pope, and the first one that I, as a journalist, was able to follow from start to end.

Let’s start at the end.

The Pope’s final day in office, Easter Sunday 2025, was emblematic. If Jesus had his 14 Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, Francis performed four final acts that symbolized his time in office. 

First, Francis met a person who previously riled him up.

On Sunday morning, the Pope held a private meeting with US Vice President JD Vance. 

I could imagine how stressful that meeting was for the Pope. He was, after all, a critic of US President Donald Trump. A few days before he was hospitalized, Francis released a scathing critique of Trump and Vance over the US’ immigration policy, which he said “will end badly.” Trump’s deportation plan for millions of migrants, he added, is a “disgrace.” 

Vance even cited the medieval Christian concept of ordo amoris (“order of love”), which, for Trump’s vice president, means “that you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then, after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.”

Hmmm, a nice “Christian” way to justify a white supremacist agenda, eh?

Well, Francis refuted Vance in an unprecedented letter to American bishops dated February 10, four days before he was hospitalized on Valentine’s Day.

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups. In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings!” the Pope wrote. “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

If I were in the Pope’s position, I would have wiggled out of a potential meeting with Vance by citing my need to recover from sickness. 

But Francis entertained Vance in his residence… and even gave chocolates for Vance’s children, rosaries for him and his wife, and a Vatican necktie. 

This, I believe, is the “culture of encounter” that Francis has emphasized throughout his papacy — meeting people where they are, talking even to enemies, and finding a middle ground for the good of all.

It is the same culture of encounter that brought Francis to the second and third final acts of his pontificate.

The second act was when he gave the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing. The third was when the Pope, in a surprise move, went down to Saint Peter’s Square to ride his popemobile and greet the people. 

Till the end, he was truly the People’s Pope.

Then the fourth act: In an impromptu gesture, he asked the popemobile to stop, his finger pointing to the crowd. Why? You can see it in timecode 26:00 of the video below. He stopped the car so that he could bless a baby! The baby was lifted and brought near the Pope, who touched the baby’s hand. Another child was brought to the Pope… and another… and another.

Play Video

It was Lolo Kiko, the grandpa who always saw hope in the youth.

It was Pope Francis, the man who breathed new life into a 2,000-year institution — a church which, according to him, had become “self-referential” and caught up in its rules and structures.

When he brought us back to Good Friday on Easter Monday, he was, till the end, the Pope of Surprises.

But part of the surprise is always the context. Pope Francis died during the Jubilee Year of Hope, an event that happens every 25 years, following a theme that he himself chose. 

“Hope does not disappoint,” as Francis quoted Saint Paul in declaring the Jubilee Year.

The last time I saw him in the flesh — and held his hand and had a brief chat — was on January 27 at the Clementine Hall of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. I was with our CEO at Rappler, Maria Ressa, as the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication invited us to the Jubilee of the World of Communications, kicking off the Jubilee Year of Hope.

I will tell you more in the next edition of my column, “The Wide Shot,” but it was a heartwarming moment of hope… especially for Filipinos.

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– Rappler.com