Pope Francis will be remembered as a champion of hope for poor & marginalised - Archibishop Makgoba
Anglican Archbishop Makgoba said the pope was an incredible, prophetic pastor whose vision was a 'church of the poor for the poor'.
Pope Francis waves from a window of the Gemelli hospital before being discharged following a five weeks hospitalisation for pneumonia, in Rome on 23 March 2025. Picture: AFP
CAPE TOWN - Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said that the late Pope Francis would be remembered as a champion and custodian of hope for the poor and marginalised across the world.
The pontiff died at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta on Monday at the age of 88.
#PopeFrancis died on Monday, aged 88, a day after making a much hoped-for appearance at Saint Peter's Square on Easter Sunday, the Vatican said in a statement. pic.twitter.com/iC0Kwms3MQ
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) April 21, 2025
The pope struggled with ill health, including a bout that kept him in hospital for 38 days.
Archbishop Makgoba said the pope was an incredible, prophetic pastor whose vision was a "church of the poor for the poor".
"We are deeply grateful to him for holding before us the image of the church as a field hospital, and for the incredible ways in which he embraced the marginalised, begging priests to identify with them as 'shepherds living with the smell of the sheep'".