Ecumenical, interfaith leaders saw pope as a humble bridge builder
Michael Saahir, imam of the Nur-Allah Islamic Center in Indianapolis, greets Pope Francis on June 3, 2024, at the Vatican during an interfaith dialogue meeting held in Rome. (Submitted photo)
By Sean Gallagher
In 2004, Dr. Robert Welsh was serving as the president of the Council on Christian Unity for the Indianapolis-based Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and was taking part in an ecumenical meeting in Buenos Aires.
He and the other participants were taken to the residence of the Catholic archbishop of the capital of Argentina to meet with them him, but he wasn’t there.
About 15 minutes after they arrived, there was a knock on the front door. Seeking entrance was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires at the time.
“He had chosen not to live in the residence but in an apartment in a modest neighborhood,” Welsh recalled in a recent interview with The Criterion. “And he walked there. He didn’t come in a limousine. He greeted each of us.
“It was unbelievable, his humility, his honesty. He was very simple.”
Welsh was then astonished when nearly a decade later Cardinal Bergoglio was elected pope.
“It was absolutely amazing,” he said. “I was thrilled.”
Welsh, leaders of other faith communities in Indianapolis and Father Rick Ginther, director of the archdiocesan Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs, spoke with The Criterion about how Pope Francis built bridges among faith communities around the world and fostered peace and mutual respect among all peoples.
The power of an ‘act of humility’
Welsh, now the president emeritus of the Council on Christian Unity for the Disciples of Christ, met Pope Francis on various occasions after he became bishop of Rome in 2013.
His impressions of the new pope were consistent with those he had when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Welsh was an ecumenical observer at a meeting of the Synod of Bishops in 2015. During a break in a meeting, the pope invited Welsh to come with him to get coffee. As they entered the room together, there were several bishops in line seeking the same thing. They all deferred to the pope, offering to let him go first.
“And he said, ‘Oh no. Please, you all go ahead,’ ” Welsh recalled.
For Welsh, that simple “act of humility” was impressive. “He never thought that he was special and should get special treatment. That is how I most remember him, for his humility, his solidarity with the rest of humanity and his graciousness.”
About a year later, Welsh was back in Rome for an ecumenical meeting and attended a general audience of the pope. After the audience, the pope came and greeted him and other meeting attendees, along with people suffering from illnesses and disabilities and couples who had recently been married.
Welsh recalled how attentive Pope Francis was to everyone, each of them coming to the audience for different reasons.
“He was present with each one of his sheep,” Welsh remembered. “He was there to meet their needs. He acknowledged who that person was. He cared about people. He was more of a shepherd than somebody who thought of himself higher than others.”
For Welsh, this way that Pope Franics was present to others was a witness of how people of all faiths should act.
“He tried to give a witness to what he thought others should be doing,” Welsh said. “You can’t dictate that. He couldn’t issue an executive order to have everybody be nice to everybody else. Just by his example, he showed what it meant.
“At the end of the day, we’re all in this together, and we need to learn the humility that treats one another with respect. It’s not about who’s got positions of power or what your title is. I think that influenced my own ministry as I moved forward.”
A breath of ‘fresh air’
Michael Saahir, imam of the Nur-Allah Islamic Center on Indianapolis’ east side, met Pope Francis less than a year ago on June 3, 2024, while in Rome for an interfaith dialogue meeting sponsored by Focolare, an international lay movement in the Church.
“This encounter was special because the overall audience included individuals of every major faith in the world, yet Pope Francis’ openness and warmth was freely extended to everyone,” Saahir recalled. “This display of inclusiveness by Pope Francis was and is very encouraging.”
Saahir said that Pope Francis, like the name of the Argentine city in which he was born and later served as archbishop, Buenos Aires, “represented hope and the aspiration of ‘fresh air’ to people the world over—a renewal of our souls and spirits—especially through mutually respectful dialogue.”
The Muslim leader in the Black community in Indianapolis also appreciated the pope’s efforts at promoting peace around the world.
“He spoke out for reconciliation and justice in Gaza and Israel as well as in other challenged areas such as the Balkans, Sudan, Ukraine and many other countries around the world,” Saahir said. “If other world leaders readily displayed the moral courage shown by Pope Francis, our world would be a much better place to live in.”
‘May his memory be a blessing’
Rabbi Aaron Spiegel serves as the executive director of the Greater Indianapolis Multifaith Alliance. He spoke of how Pope Francis’ respect for people of other faiths was deeply rooted within himself.
“Francis seemed to relate to other faith communities the same way he related to all—as fellow human beings, inherently valuable, inherently complete and as if all are created in the image of the Divine,” Spiegel said. “He didn’t have to ‘outreach’ to other faith communities since he seemed to simply accept us.”
Spiegel also appreciated the pope’s concern for the poor and those in need, something he said is emphasized in his Jewish faith and that of other faith communities around the world.
“My tradition demands that, rather than ‘do’ justice, I must ‘be’ justice,” he said. “Francis emulated this with humility, openness, grace and compassion, the key attributes of one who lives one’s faith.”
Upon Pope Francis’ death on April 21, Spiegel expressed his prayer that the pope would live on in the hearts of Catholics around the world.
“In Judaism, we believe that eternal life is based on memory,” he said. “When we mention someone who’s died, we say ‘zichronah livracha,’ ‘may his memory be a blessing.’ I hope that for my Catholic brothers and sisters, Pope Francis’ memory is truly a blessing.”
‘He planted so many seeds’
Father Rick Ginther began his leadership of the archdiocesan Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs in 2012, the year before Pope Francis was elected as bishop of Rome.
He’s found encouragement in this ministry through the pope’s putting such a high priority on building bridges among other Christians and people of various faiths through his 12 years as pontiff.
“It was encouraging and uplifting,” said Father Ginther, who also ministers as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Indianapolis. “In all of his encyclicals and writings, Pope Francis referred to all people of faith, not just Catholics. I found that very encouraging. That’s really what we’re supposed to be about, encouraging each other.”
He saw the pope’s Jesuit background as the foundation for his ecumenical and interfaith efforts.
“He was a missionary,” Father Ginther said. “The Jesuits are typically noted for cultivating relationships with other faiths, other Christians and even those who have no specific faith tradition. That’s just part of what Jesuits do.”
Father Ginther believes that Pope Francis’ bridge-building efforts will continue to have a positive effect on the Church’s relationship with other Christians and people of other faith traditions in the years to come.
“He planted so many seeds of good relationships and listening,” said Father Ginther. “That’s just not going to go away. Especially for those of us who have to deal with divisiveness on so many other fronts in our culture and among nations, it’s a breath of hope that he breathed into us in Christ. It’s going to keep going.” †
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