Pedro Nuno Santos expressed his personal grief and that of the Socialist Party (PS) over the death of Pope Francis. “A good man has died, a generous man respected by both believers and non-believers,” he lamented during a statement to journalists at the PS headquarters in Lisbon.
Emphasizing the Pope’s advocacy of “love for others,” one of the “original messages of Christianity,” the PS leader noted that the Pope “always cared for the underprivileged, the poorest, the most vulnerable.”
“He was also a critic of populism, a defender of peace, and a critic of liberalism, of the ‘economy that kills,’ as he put it. An economy that produces inequality, that produces poverty,” he highlighted.
Pedro Nuno Santos also recalled the Pope’s message that “the only time one can speak from above is when they are helping.”
“This message of love is a powerful message that Pope Francis left us,” he asserted.
The PS leader also remembered Pope Francis’s belief that “worse than being an atheist is attending mass every day and then professing hatred.”
“This is the message I want to repeat once again, of love for others, of respect for others, against hatred, a church that accepts everyone. This message should serve as an example, should endure, and should be an example for all of us, for all citizens, but also for the entire Catholic Church,” he stated.
Pope Francis passed away today at the age of 88, after a 12-year pontificate marked by the fight against sexual abuse, wars, and a pandemic. Born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, Francis was the first Jesuit to lead the Catholic Church.
He had been hospitalized for 38 days with bilateral pneumonia and was discharged on March 23. His last public appearance was on Easter Sunday at the Vatican, the day before his death.
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