Alexandre remembers the first trip of Cardinal Bergoglio as a pope in July 2013. He had chosen Lampedusa. This small Italian island near Tunisia is the gateway to Europe for many migrants. François had denounced there “globalization of indifference” in a discourse which “reconciled” the 25 -year -old economist with his faith. The young man admits having “always been upset in the inadequacy between the Catholic faith and the subjects of immigration.” But what the Pope said at that moment “resonated” in him.
Alexandre is part of this generation of Catholics, now aged 25 to 30, who grew up with Pope Francis. Died on Monday, April 21 at the age of 88, the Argentinian pontiff arrived in 2013 in the Vatican “with another vision of the world and different societal issues” of those of her European predecessors, underlines the researcher Isabelle Jonveaux. The head of the Institute of Pastoral Sociology of French -speaking Switzerland in Lausanne recalls that “Pope Francis has shown his interest in young people by joining them in their concerns”. His encyclics on the themes of ecology – Laudato Si (2015) – and immigration – Fratelli Tutti (2020) – are a good example.
In 2016, during the World Youth Days (WYD), François called nearly 2 million believers to “get out of their sofa” to change the world. A direct discourse that characterizes it. “His writings are less theological than his predecessors. It is a good thing. It allowed me to connect my faith to the concrete. Life is not a debate of theological interpretations,” said Alexandre.
A pope close to the poorest
Pope Francis, by his personal history and the culture of Latin America which he brought to the Vatican, marked the world by its modernity and its simplicity. He wanted to make himself close to the believers and the poorest, “giving him a sympathetic figure, especially among young people, who liked his spontaneous mode of communication”, analyzes Isabelle Jonveaux. In a platform published in the newspaper The cross in March 2025Father Pierre Amar, co-founder of Padreblogexplained the way in which the Pope Francis, “more discreet” than his predecessors, saw himself “as a kind of ‘parish priest’ who likes to make Catholics think about their positioning towards non-Catholics, other believers, agnostics, atheists, in a word … ‘of the peripheries’.”
“He always repeated: ‘I pray for you. Pray for me’. It was this humility with which he asked for the prayer of the faithful who marked me the most,” said Clothilde, 26, graduate of theology. “Whatever you think, one cannot doubt the sincerity with which François has always sought the truth and bringing the faithful of God closer.” From the choice of his name, referring to François d’Assise, an Italian saint defender of the poor, the Argentinian pontiff had announced the color: he would put himself at the service of the outskirts. But this love for the forgotten, François also held it from his Jesuit order which gives particular importance to evangelization. A mission of announcing God’s message to the world.
Isabelle Jonveaux
Alexis is less categorical: “that Pope Francis has taken societal subjects in arms is understandable, concedes the head of land project. He gave a good image of the Church to non-Catholics, but I have the feeling that he put aside the believers already anchored in their faith.” This 25 -year -old practitioner sometimes had difficulty understanding the positions of the Pope “, in particular concerning the renewal of the Roman Curia – the central administration of the Catholic Church and the Vatican – Reformed in 2022. He accuses him of not having respected the plurality of the Church. “François worked at a college of Cardinaux in his line so that she can continue,” confirms Isabelle Jonveaux.
A “mainly practicing JMJ generation”
“A whole partly conservative part of Catholic youth was not in accordance with Pope Francis on matters of migration or homosexuality,” she also underlines. The researcher notes that this share of conservative Catholics, “even rigorous”, in their practice, is increasing. In 2023, before the start of the Lisbon WYP, the newspaper The cross proposed A survey On the profile of young French people who participated. The conclusions of this study showed a “mainly practicing JMJ generation” generation, going twice or even twice a week to mass. Among these respondents, only 18 % said they were “very in affinity” with Pope Francis and 54 % “quite in affinity” with the orientations he gave to the Church. “We cannot say that Pope Francis has created a unity around him, or on the contrary, totally divided”, analyzes the sociologist.
Isabelle Jonveaux takes the example of the opening to the blessing of homosexual couples, established in December 2023 through the declaration “Fiducia supplicans”. “For some of the young people, this announcement meant the start of the end of the Church. For others, the institution was not going far enough. They wanted to see it allow the marriage of homosexual couples,” recalls the researcher.
In a few days, a new pope will be elected, announced by the white smoke which will rise above the Sistine Chapel. Who will be his successor? For Alexis, in order to appease the divisions between Catholics, “it would take a good mix between François, Benoît XVI and Jean-Paul II”. Alexandre thinks “that the issues raised by François have not yet been settled” and would like to see the Church continue in his line. Whether conservative or progressive, “it is above all the cultural space and the country from which the future Pope will result which will give a line to his pontificate”, concludes Isabelle Jonveaux.
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