Pope Francis Dies At 88, Leaves A Legacy Of Compassion

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 1936, passed away on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88. His death marks the end of a profoundly transformative 12-year papacy—one defined by humility, empathy, and an unprecedented outreach to the marginalized, especially queer communities who, for generations, had been pushed to the margins of the Roman Catholic Church.

From his earliest days as pope in 2013, Francis made it clear that his mission would center on mercy over judgment, compassion over condemnation. He famously asked, “Who am I to judge?” when speaking about gay people seeking God—a simple sentence that sent shockwaves through a Church long seen as unwelcoming to queer people. It wasn’t just rhetoric. He followed that spirit with action.

In 2023, under his guidance, the Vatican approved blessings for same-sex couples under specific conditions—a move long thought impossible. Francis called laws that criminalize homosexuality “unjust” and declared with clarity: “God loves all His children just as they are.” For queer Catholics, these were not just words—they were life-affirming. They were holy.

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Throughout his papacy, he quietly met with LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, reminding them of God’s unconditional love. To a group of parents of LGBTQ+ children, he offered these words: “God loves your children as they are.” Though the Church’s doctrines remained complex and often contradictory, Francis pushed the boundaries of inclusion with more warmth and grace than any pope before him.

His tenderness wasn’t confined to policy. It lived in how he saw people. “When a person who has this situation arrives before Jesus,” he once said, “Jesus certainly will not say, ‘Go away because you are homosexual.’ No.”

His outreach came during a time of rising global hostility toward queer people, with laws, bans, and public backlash threatening most freedoms. And yet, Francis chose to stand with those who needed the Church the most. He reminded the world—and his Church—that love was not a loophole.

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Pope Francis’s legacy will be remembered for many things: his simplicity, his climate advocacy, his work with the poor. But for many queer people, he will be remembered as the first pope who saw them fully. The first who reached out—not to change who they were, but to remind them they already belonged. For gay Catholics who had only known silence or rejection, Pope Francis offered something radical: acknowledgment, dignity, love.

Because for all the steps Pope Francis took toward queer inclusion, particularly for gay and lesbian people, his understanding of gender remained limited—reflective of many in his generation. Trans folks were too often left on the margins of his compassion. His language around gender identity was cautious, “Cancelling out the (gender) differences means cancelling out humanity.” For the trans and non-binary community, it never quite felt fully affirming.

And that’s hard to hold. Because we want to honor what he did without pretending it was enough. We can be grateful for the progress while still demanding more—more dignity, more protection, more love without conditions.

Both things can be true: he was a trailblazer, and it still wasn’t enough. That’s not cruelty. That’s clarity. That’s love that keeps reaching.

His compassion didn’t erase centuries of hurt, but it cracked open a door long thought sealed. And through that door came hope.

Pope Francis will be remembered as the first pope who didn’t just speak about queer people—but to us, and with us. He reminded us that faith and love are not mutually exclusive, and that the Church can be a place of welcome, not exile.

He made necessary change possible. And for that, he will never be forgotten.