‘Pope to the peripheries’: Boise community reacts to Pope Francis’ death | Opinion
Pope Francis was a “pope to the peripheries.”
“He was a pope to people who are poor, to the outcast, especially to migrants and refugees,” Gene Fadness, deacon at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Boise and retired communications director for the Diocese of Boise, told me in a phone interview. “Those are the true gifts he brought to the papacy, getting us to think more about the people in and on the margins of society.”
The Boise-area Catholic community is mourning the death of Pope Francis, who died Monday in Rome after a prolonged battle with pneumonia.
“How blessed we have been by his leadership, and how blessed we will be for decades to come as that same leadership takes even deeper root in who we are as followers of Jesus Christ our Lord,” Diocese of Boise Bishop Peter F. Christensen said in a prepared statement.
“Vicki and I join our Idaho Catholic community and people of faith around the world in mourning the loss of Pope Francis,” U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, wrote in a social media post. “I attended Pope Francis’ speech on September 24, 2015, when he made history by becoming the first Pope to address a joint session of Congress. Thousands poured in to see him at the National Mall. May Pope Francis rest in eternal peace in the house of the Father.”
“Thousands of Idaho Catholics and people of all faiths are mourning the passing of Pope Francis, a true servant of God,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little wrote in an emailed statement. “Teresa and I join many, many others in honoring his life and legacy of service to Christ and others.”
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Pope Francis was a controversial figure, especially in our times of division, which has permeated not only our politics, but religion as well, and the Catholic Church has not been immune to it. Pope Francis was seen as a liberal pope, opening the church to the LGBTQ+ community, advocating for the rights of migrants and refugees and speaking out about wealth inequality and climate change.
“Pope Francis, I think, made a lot of people feel uncomfortable, including people in the church, because he tried to get us to get out of our comfort zones and to think more about how people on the outside might feel,” Fadness said. “And for some Catholics, that was kind of an uncomfortable feeling: How do we open our doors to people that maybe we weren’t thinking about before as much?”
Each pope had unique gifts
Fadness has a wonderful perspective that I think is worth sharing. Fadness, a former journalist, including a stint at the Idaho Statesman, is now “retired,” but in addition to his deacon duties at St. Mary’s, he also teaches religion at Bishop Kelly High School.
Like Fadness, the three primary popes of my lifetime are Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict and Pope Francis (I was too young to remember Pope John Paul I or Pope John Paul VI, who both died when I was just 7 years old).
“It’s interesting how all three brought different gifts to the church,” Fadness said: John Paul II was known for his charisma, for fighting against communism and for his World Youth Days. Pope Benedict was more of a student and a writer.
“And then you have Francis, who was our first Jesuit Pope, and he was a ‘pope to the peripheries,’ ” Fadness said, noting that Pope Francis took the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, known for ridding himself of his possessions and devoting his life to helping the poor and the needy.
Pope Francis certainly rubbed some people the wrong way, particularly more traditional Catholics.
“Catholics are just as divided on some of these issues as the culture is,” Fadness said. “What I think Francis tried to tell us was to meet people where they are. If you encounter a gay Catholic, a gay Christian or a transgender Catholic or a Christian, meet them where they are, walk with them. That was always his style.”
Pope Francis was a bridge builder
Fadness said Pope Francis, while controversial at times, was a bridge builder, noting the significance of the pope’s final meeting just hours before his death with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, as the pope and the Trump administration have often been at odds over such issues as immigration, climate change, the war in Israel and nationalism.
“You know, dogma is important, but always the first dogma was, ‘Love your neighbor,’ ” Fadness said. “And so do that first: Love people. Meet them where they are. Don’t judge. ‘Who am I to judge?’ he once said.”
I’m sure there are some in the church who welcome the opportunity to have a more “conservative” pope, but Fadness said “it’s a lot more complex than that.”
Traditional or progressive pope?
Which brings us back to Fadness’ perspectives on the unique gifts that the last three popes brought to the job.
“I don’t put them in boxes,” Fadness said. “I look at them as each bringing unique gifts that bless the life of the church. And I’m pretty confident that the next pope will be that, in that same way. I don’t know whether he’ll be more traditional or whether he’ll be more in the Francis tradition, but I’m confident whoever he is that he will bring his own unique gifts to the life of the church.”
In the end, Fadness trusts the process.
“We, as Catholics, believe that even though it’s a political process, we believe that in the end, the Holy Spirit is the one who will decide,” Fadness said. “And so I’m confident that whoever it is is someone that God has chosen for this time to lead the church.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 3:02 PM.
