Academics: Pope Francis, a rare gift to humanity

DAR ES SALAAM: ACADEMICS in the country have paid glowing tributes to Pope Francis (pictured), describing him as a rare gift to the Catholic Church who strived for the common good of all people and the Earth.

Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.

He is scheduled to be buried on Saturday at the Basilica of St Mary Major. In a statement availed to the ‘Daily News’ yesterday, former Executive Secretary of the Association of Catholic Universities and Higher Institutes of Africa and Madagascar (ACUHIAM), Dr George Mutalemwa, said that Pope Francis set iconic ideals worth emulating.

He mentioned ideals such as humility, wisdom, forgiveness, love, peace, truth, selflessness, patience, dedication, courage, service, open-mindedness and fostering unity.

“A tribute to Pope Francis from Africa: When the Pope chose the name Francis, I believed he was going to be a unique leader and he truly became one. He set high ideals for himself, striving to emulate Saint Francis of Assisi and even daring to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ,” said Dr Mutalemwa.

“Being a Jesuit while embracing the Franciscan spirit was a powerful message in itself,” he added.

Reflecting on the Pope’s ideals, he remarked that they were truly exceptional in today’s neoliberal world where inequality, the pursuit of power, profit maximisation, injus- tice, violence, greed, hatred and war often reign supreme.

The ACUHIAM has its Permanent Secretariat at the Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) in Mwan- za.

Dr Mutalemwa said that Pope Francis, during his life- time, wrote his book “Praise be to You” and an encyclical entitled “All are Brothers,” which further convinced him of his Franciscan calling based on the Canticle of Brother Sun by Saint Francis of Assisi, a universal invitation to care for one another and for the environment.

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“For the Catholic Church, he was a rare gift. Francis might have had a dream like his mentor’s, Saint Francis of Assisi, who heard the Lord telling him: ‘Go and repair my church for it is falling into ruin.

May the soul of Pope Francis rest in peace through the hands of Sister Death from whom no human being can escape,” he said.

In his capacity as ACUHIAM’s Executive Secretary, Dr Mutalemwa recalled meeting Pope Francis in January last year during the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), held in Rome, Italy.

He noted that during the ceremony, Pope Francis urged leaders of Catholic universities around the world to be champions of peace. Dr Boniphace Idindili, who doubles as the Consultant for Public Health Equity and Social Development in Tanzania, said Pope Francis united all Catholics and non-Catholics regardless of their different races, nations and continents.

Dr Idindili said the Pope also acted as a mediator by promoting peace in countries with political instability, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where he once visited during his tenure.

According to Vatican News, the Funeral Mass for Pope Francis will be held in St Peter’s Square on Saturday, April 26, at 10 AM, presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals.

He will be joined by Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, priests, consecrated religious and lay faithful from around the world to bid farewell to Pope Francis.

At the end of the Mass on Saturday, the late Pope’s body will be taken into St Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St Mary Major, where he will be buried.

Yesterday morning (on Wednesday), the Rite of Translation of the body of Pope Francis took place in the Vatican, led by the College of Cardinals who gathered in Rome following his death.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, began the liturgical rite in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta with a brief prayer for the soul of Pope Francis. In the opening prayer, Cardinal Farrell thanked God for the 12-year ministry of the late Pope.