Archbishop: Pope Francis would remind Trinidad and Tobago of our brotherhood

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Archbishop Jason Gordon said if Pope Francis had contemplated Trinidad and Tobago, he would have looked at the racism, despair and negativity in the society and reminded people that they were all brothers and sisters.

Speaking at the requiem mass for Pope Francis on April 25 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Independence Square, Port of Spain, he said there were several issues Francis would comment on.

“He certainly would turn his gaze to racism and say, ‘No we are brothers and sisters all. We come on different ships as Black Stalin would say but we came to this one place. We might have had a different trip but we all make up one beautiful twin island republic we call Trinidad and Tobago.

“He would certainly turn his gaze to the depth of despair and negativity that is so rife on the streets of our country, in the talk shows and in all the different pockets of our country, where everyone is so negative and disrespectful to everyone else. He will say that that is death and we must bring the light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ into that, into that area of our national discourse.”

Gordon said Francis disrupted and influenced his way of thinking many times over the years.

“There were many times where I had to go back again to prayer and mull over his words and what he was asking us as church to do. There were many times when he invited me to conversion of heart to see that the way I'm seeing is not the way of God but the way of the world, to see through God's eyes and to see with a clarity of what is required for a Christian leader in our time. For me Pope Francis is not just a pope, he's also that, he's a spiritual father to me, he's a spiritual mentor to me. He has guided my thinking and my life and how I see myself as archbishop.”

Gordon said Francis was a contemplative who looked at different aspects of the world through the eyes of Christ. He said in his writings, Francis revived and looked at areas which many felt were dying, giving people a new perspective on them. These included the Church, the family, and the planet.

He said another area Francis looked at was the issue of migrants, beginning almost immediately after he was selected as Pope.

“He went to the island just off Italy where most of the migrants come from Africa as a trans-shipment port and he signalled that migrancy is not something that we can just wish away in this time in which we are living.

“The migrant and the refugee which the whole world was up in arms against because of how difficult and messy it is in changing our cultures, he took it on headlong and again in this other area where death seemed to be prevailing, the Holy Father used his voice of moral authority across the whole world and said Jesus Mary and Joseph were refugees and every refugee is part of the holy family.”

Gordon said Francis gave the Church four verbs they should do when they encounter migrants and refugees.

“He moved it into an action that the church and the world must do if we are going to be people of light and resurrection. He said we must protect, we must care for, we must be an advocate for and integrate the migrant into our communities. It launched us in a direction that was very uncomfortable for many people and it remains uncomfortable but here we are seeing a man who had a contemplative gaze.”

He said during the covid19 pandemic, Francis turned his attention to the writing of his encyclical book ‘Fratelli tutti’.

“Brothers and sisters all. At a moment when divisiveness became part and parcel of the way the world was relating, where we were making enemies faster than we could count them, where we were derailing people because they were different from us where we were seeing division everywhere, Pope Francis used his contemplative gaze to see a world where we are brothers and sisters and where we are part of one family because there's only one God and that God is our father.

“His contemplative gaze changed the way we saw so many of the burning social issues of the day. We say farewell to a man who has had tremendous, tremendous influence on the world.”

Gordon gave special sympathies to Argentinian ambassador Gustavo Martínez Pandiani, who had read the first lesson.

“He's part of your national family and you gave us a treasure, a treasure that we will treasure for many hundreds of years to come.”

The Archbishop also recognised Jesuit priest Father Gerard McGlone, as Pope Francis was the first Jesuit pope.

“He was part of your family and your Father Ignatius taught Francis how to have contemplative eyes and how to bring those contemplative eyes into everything that he turned his eyes to and everything that he turned his heart to.”

The service was attended by President Christine Kangaloo, her husband Kerwyn Garcia and Prime Minister Stuart Young.

Pope Francis died on Monday 21st April, 2025 at age 88. His funeral will take place at St Peter's Square in the Vatican on April 26, beginning at 4 am local time.