Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America, has died, following a stroke and heart failure.
“At 7:35 this morning [Monday 21 April], the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church,” said His Eminence, Cardinal Farrell, in a statement from the Vatican.
“He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalised.”
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State in 2013. Throughout his tenure, he was vocal in his support for the co-operative model, recognising its potential to build a more just and inclusive economy. He highlighted its ability to create productive economies, foster ethical finance, and prioritise the needs of people and the common good over profit.
In the year of his election, he met with the International Co-operative Alliance’s then-president Pauline Green and then-director-ceneral Charles Gould, to discuss how co-operatives can help to deal with some of the world’s problems.
During the meeting, Pope Francis emphasised his confidence in co-operative enterprises to build a future where people are at the centre, instead of there to make profit. “If a block away people die of cold or hunger, it receives no news attention” he said. “Meanwhile, if stocks fall two or three points in London or New York, it’s on air immediately.”
Two years later, he addressed over 7,000 members of the Confederation of Italian Cooperatives to express his support for co-operatives as a means to achieve an “economy of honesty”. He suggested several actions for co-ops to achieve their mission, including setting up new enterprises that respond to people’s needs, looking at access to healthcare and enabling people to achieve all their potential.
“A member of a co-operative must not be merely … a worker … but must instead always be a protagonist, and must grow, through the co-operative, as a person, socially and professionally, in responsibility … an enterprise managed by a co-operative must grow in a truly co-operative way, involving all,” he said.
Pope Francis gave a similar message in Bolivia, before nearly 2,000 social activists, farmers, trash workers and neighbourhood activists. He highlighted how change must come from the grassroots, whether from poor people or the community organisers who work with them, and praised co-operatives which he said provide productive economies for the poor.
“I remember it as if it were today when I visited him in Santa Marta and we talked, of course, about our coincidental origin from the “end of the world” and the responsibility that had to be taken on the global stage,” wrote Ariel Guarco, current president of the ICA, who also hails from Argentina, in a message on social media.
“Francis – the most important world leader of the 21st century, since his election and until yesterday – in his Easter message advocated for a world centered on cooperation and peace.
“He was a firm promoter of the co-operative economy, of the culture of solidarity, of environmental advocacy. Not only will we miss his presence and his fraternal leadership, we will miss his friendship and proximity to the people of the suburbs, with the forgotten, with the violated, in a world that increasingly needs cooperative values and principles to move forward.”
