Cardinal Cobo: Pope Francis’s legacy was to clear the gospel of ideologies

Cardinal José Cobo, archbishop of Madrid (Spain), emphasizes that the legacy of Pope Francis was “to help us clear the evangelion of inertia, even ideologies, and to welcome him in his simplicity and in his possession.”

This was said during the funeral held on April 29 at the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid.

The Archbishop of Madrid explained during his homily that the Argentine pontiff will be remembered for many “for his pastoral nature, his proximity to the poor, his prophetic gestures, his tireless defense of peace and his courage to undertake reforms.” However, he considered that a social or historical analysis of the pontificate is insufficient.

Therefore, he outlined some pastoral and spiritual features. For Cardinal Cobo, “Francisco as Pope was more than a visible leader, he was a witness in the middle of the world, a witness of the invisible” who did not need great speeches to talk about essential aspects such as mercy, the joy of the Gospel or the tenderness of God.

Pope Francis, “a man born to the spirit”

Thus, he highlighted three features “that can help us collect the planting of this papacy.” The first was to consider that Pope Francis was “a man born to the spirit, attentive to the breath of God, open to discernment, convinced that the Christian must be guided by the spirit as by a wind that does not know where he leads.”

In this sense, he stressed that, as a pastor, Francisco “has had an insistence: learning to discern and listen together the voice of the spirit in the church, and also outside of it. This was his bet. This is his pastoral legacy for this time: help us clear the gospel of inertia, even ideologies, and to welcome him in his simplicity and in his power.”

Second, the Purpurado Spanish, who will participate in the conclave from next May 7, explained that Pope Francis did not talk about the cross “from the throne, but also carried it on behalf of the poor and the marginalized, of immigrants and the invisible until the end in their illness, in their fragility, in their silence.”

This attitude translated into concrete gestures: “We all know their hugs to the discarded, their visits to the margins, their presence in solitude during that pandemic.”

However, he added, “the believer does not remain only in the images, but in the God to whom the gesture points: if we see hugs, we see hugs to people in vulnerability that points and we are able to discover there the compassionate God.”

Therefore, the Archbishop of Madrid insisted, “Francisco has signed up for God already the cross with his life and his message” and reminded us “that the Church is not a fortress or a court, but a refuge for those who seek meaning. A place, where human fragility is not convicted, but embraced, where it is possible to live the gospel making the church a place for all.”

Third, the Purpurado Spanish explained that, after the death of Pope Francis, we must stay “with his testimony as a potato and with the task of letting ourselves be guided by the Spirit, walking in synodality, and pointing to our lives to the God that gives meaning to everything.”

“Francisco has given himself for the Church. He has given himself to point us to where to look. As Nicodemus, he knew how to look for God in the night of the world. As Peter, he cried for the Church and has loved it until the end. As Jesus, he washed our feet with his humble service and with his smile,” he added.

“It has been, for this dehumanized humanity, as we saw at its funeral, a spiritual leader for a convulsive world and for the poor of the earth. It has been for their faithfulness and freedom when giving light to those who needed it,” the cardinal described before concluding his homily.