Northeastern assistant professor of religion and anthropology Sarah Riccardi-Swartz reflects on the historic papacy — and what comes next.
Pope Francis broke with papal tradition by becoming the first pope from a Latin American country, approving the blessing of same-sex unions and appointing the first woman to lead a Vatican department.
He also held to Catholic orthodoxy by upholding the male priesthood and opposition to abortion.
Pope Francis’ death at age 88 Monday morning unleashed a wave of mourning around the world as well as questions about the direction in which a new pope will lead the Catholic Church and its nearly 1.4 billion followers.
Northeastern Global News asked Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, Northeastern assistant professor of religion and anthropology, about the legacy of Pope Francis — and what comes next.
@northeasternglobalnews Who will be the next pope? A Northeastern professor of religion explains what’s likely to come for the Catholic Church following the passing of Pope Francis. #Pope #PopeFrancis #CatholicChurch #Religion #Vatican #Christianity ♬ original sound – NGN
Who will be the next pope? A Northeastern professor of religion explains what’s likely to come for the Catholic Church following the passing of Pope Francis. #Pope #PopeFrancis #CatholicChurch #Religion #Vatican #Christianity
This interview has been edited for brevity.
The papal tenure of Pope Francis brought to the fore important social issues that Catholics and Christians around the world face daily, including climate change, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, poverty, and the continual violence of war.
At the same time, Pope Francis’s legacy will be caught up in the increasing politicalization we see between the liberal and conservative wings of the Catholic Church.
Both sides saw him as doing both too little and too much for the other. For better or for worse, the embodiment of Pope Francis’s legacy just might be the next cardinal who is elected to the See of Peter.
As the first pope from Latin America, Francis embraced his outsider status in Rome, rejecting the normative conventions of papal protocol in favor of a people-based approach that resonated with his Argentinian liberationist theological outlook, including critiquing the excessive wealth of the church by opting not to live in the papal palace.
Not a classical liberationist theologian, Francis focused his approach on a vernacular theology of people that emphasized community care, joy, mysticism and social change.
His emphasis on meeting people where they are reflects his past life and service in Argentina, a place that profoundly shaped his mission and tenure as the Holy Father.
He also gave voice to the fthat Catholicism exists beyond the European context and that church leadership should reflect the global church, not just those from European nations.
Everything about Pope Francis was new in terms of predecessor. From his clothes to his lodging, his theology of people, and his desire to break down barriers between hierarchy and laity, Francis expressed the attitude of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, a beggar and itinerant preacher who embraced marginalized people wherever he went.
As the first Jesuit (Society of Jesus) Pope, Francis used his global platform to express the values of Jesuit life, including care for the individual person, justice, and ethical reform.
In selecting the name Francis and advocating for Jesuit values, Pope Francis seemed to emulate the ideas of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who focused on helping others as a way to seek God.
News outlets love to tout Pope Francis’s record of church reform as a push back against tradition. The reality is, Pope Francis’s work of making a more merciful, proactive and missionary-minded Catholic Church is a reflection of long standing Christian principles from the New Testament and the Gospels.
The irony here is that the “progressive” work of Francis was actually a return to early Christianity and the traditions Christians believe were set forth by Jesus Christ and his apostles.
Pope Francis was a vocal advocate for the poor, drawing on religious texts and Catholic values to emphasize care of the poor as the epitome of Christian duty.
In his 2023 message for World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis alluded to capitalism — which he called “affluent lifestyles” — as a fundamental barrier in understanding and reaching out to the poor.
He also reminded Catholics everywhere that the poor and marginalized can be anyone — from next-door neighbors to children fleeing the violence of war. Drawing on the language of justice, the Holy Father urged the faithful to renew their understanding of human dignity — each person, according to Pope Francis, allows us to see “the human and divine face of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The conclave to select the next pope will begin in the next two to three weeks. The College of Cardinals will meet in the Sistine Chapel to vote on who should be the successor.
While the procession for election is quite secretive, we do know the makeup of the College of Cardinals — from which the next Pope is typically selected — skews heavily from Europe.
In terms of politics, the body of Cardinals is diverse, and this is reflected among the papabilli — the leading cardinals who might become the next pope — but they are typically conservative when it comes to issues of female deacons, same-sex blessings, and the Old Latin Mass.
Unless an outlier candidate wins the day, it is fair to say the next Pope might recall some of the progressive work initiated by his predecessor.