Does a Pontificate necessarily invoke philosophical accountability and reflection? When it comes to the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Twenty Third to Pope Francis, it indeed spawns a philosophical reckoning. The spirit and internal renewal of the Second Vatican Council negotiated ostensibly great philosophical traditions like Existentialism and philosophical Hermeneutics, thinkers like Soren Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Paul Ricoeur, and great Philosophical Theologians like Von Balthasar, Karl Rahner, Hans Kueng, and many more influential streams of Philosophers, Thinkers, and Theologians.

In the case of Pope Francis, the philosophical and epistemic tools of Methol Ferré, a Urygyan-Argentinian thinker, and Italian thinkers like Giovani Vattimo were notable influences. Along with the above thinkers, Liberation Theology and many radical Jesuit thinkers are associated with the philosophico-theological climate of Pope Francis' ideas of reforming the Church, opposing the heartless culture of money and profit capitalism.

In his conversation with Francis, a known postmodern thinker, Zygmunt Bauman said, "I have worked all my life to make humanity a more hospitable place. I arrived at the age of 91 and I have seen many false starts until I became a pessimist. Thank you, because you are for me the light at the end of the tunnel" (Zeger Polhuijs, Zygmunt Bauman and Pope Francis in Dialogue: the Labyrinth of Liquid Modernity (Lanham, MD: Fortress Academic, 2022). Besides, Massimo Borghesi, who has studied the thoughts of Pope Francis, pitched on the themes of "polarity" in the pope's writing, which makes the opposites of conservatism and radical Jesus Affirmations stand in continuous dialogue and self-mutual negotiations.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Pope Francis
Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Argentinian Archbishop, born on December 17, 1936, and assumed the office of the Pontiff on March 13, 2013) is the spiritual leader of Catholics worldwide and the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. As a moral voice, the thoughts and actions of Popes, like religious leaders, have global significance in matters related to political and social principles of coexistence.

Looking at the spectrum of the involvements and interventions, both administrative and spiritual ethical actions, including journeys he made to different places and countries that Pope Francis has harmoniously achieved, perhaps the Pontiff himself tells the world that it is time to world look at his pontificate as part of history.

As it has been jokingly said, 'Pope means definitively conservative.' Though Francis called himself conservative, he is not a conservative in the conventional sense; he is orthodox and yet radically progressive in his outlook. A major view of the world about Pope Francis is that 'he is known for his humility, concern for the poor, and commitment to interreligious dialogue.' As some of the popular sources say,

Francis' papal motto, Miserando atque eligendo (by having mercy and by choosing), contains a central theme of his papacy, God's mercy, which has led to conflict with some Catholics on issues such as the reception of Communion by remarried Catholics. In addressing real-life situations, Francis often appeals directly to his experience, in continuity with his Synodal way, which shows a renewed emphasis on listening and dialogue. He has also placed greater emphasis on Church Synods and on widespread consultation and dialogue, thus uplifting the roles of laypersons and of women in the Catholic Church and criticising clericalism. Francis' concern for the poor is noted in his critiques of capitalism, his quite visible support of refugees and migrants, and his outreach to liberationist, anarchist, communist, socialist, and liberal movements in Latin America that were under a cloud during the papacy of John Paul II.

Mathew Schmalz says, "Francis cared deeply for the poor and opened up the Catholic Church. Pope Francis reached out personally to the poor. For example, he turned a Vatican plaza into a refuge for the homeless, whom he called "nobles of the street." He washed the feet of migrants and prisoners during the traditional foot-washing ceremony on the Thursday before Easter. In an unprecedented act for a pope, he also washed the feet of non-Christians. He encouraged a more welcoming attitude toward gay and lesbian Catholics and invited transgender people to meet with him at the Vatican."

It is a little discouraging that "many conservative Catholics are quite unhappy with Pope Francis because of his passion for social justice, his welcoming comments on gay and divorced Catholics, and what they perceive as his weak defense of traditional Catholic teachings."

Major Papal Writings of Francis
Though we can add some more to the category, the most recognised Apostolic Letters with socio-philosophical significance are as follows: 1. Dilexit nos - On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ (October 24, 2024); 2. Fratelli tutti - on Fraternity and Social Friendship (October 3, 2020); 3. Laudato si – Praise Be to You (May 24, 2015); 4. Lumen fidei – The Light of Faith (June 29, 2013).

Among his very conscientious papal letters, which include the major ones mentioned above, though all of them present a unique and organic philosophy of just coexistence, a democracy of dialogue and intercultural bonding, 'Laudato si – Praise Be to You' stands apart with extreme contextual significance.

As Joe Cady (An Overview of the Central Themes of Laudato Si) summarises, "Pope Francis published his Encyclical Laudato Si', On Care for our Common Home, as a way of reiterating the Church's call for responsible stewardship of creation and calling all of us to ensure that our methods of production and consumption honor our Creator, respect the Lord's command to care for creation, and serve the needs of the human family (especially the poorest and most vulnerable)."

The major thematic concerns of Laudato Si are:
a. We must be neither exploiters of nature nor worshippers of it.
b. There is a need to change structures and hearts.
c. A paradigm shift is needed.
d. A return to ethics and moral realism.
e. The connection between social issues and environmental issues.
f. The interconnectedness of all of our relationships.

As Francis himself mentioned, the target audience of Laudato Si' was not just Catholics or Christians but everyone who lives on the planet, for all people, and for the whole world. As a document of the heart, the letter remains a true philosophical-spiritual Mea Culpa that seeks the vast corpus of literature on ecosophy and environmental ethics and a dialogical response to it.

The same kind of creative interventionist anxiety is seen in Pope Francis's ideas about interreligious dialogue and peace (an overarching concern of all his writings and encyclicals). Interfaith dialogues focus on religion or religiosity in the context of the 'secular-post-secular' dialectics to initiate an ethical post-religious self-understanding of religions.

In other words, 'The post-religious' is religion's self-critique from a deeper understanding of democracy, mutual dialogue for peaceful coexistence, and an ethics of plurality. When a group of Buddhist Monks from Thailand visited Pope Francis some months ago, he thanked them by quoting the central theme of the last Buddhist-Christian Colloquium, i.e., Agape and Karuna in Dialogue for healing the wounded earth and humanity.

As Pope Francis shares with us in Laudato Si, "There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle. Education in environmental responsibility can encourage ways of acting that directly and significantly affect the world around us, such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, and any number of other practices." (Laudato Si)

Responding with a unique ethical stance of global responsibility recently, Pope Francis called for humans to always hold the reigns of decision-making when it comes to AI because algorithms make "technical" choices based on statistical inferences. "We need to protect a significant area of control over the decision process of AI programs." Shifting gears, he called for a ban on autonomous weaponry in war, starting with what he called "a real and concrete decision to introduce AI, the creators should always build them keeping in mind the "ethical inspiration."

Pope Francis's Encyclical Dilexit Nos (He loved us) passionately reminds us that religion and spirituality should be a heart-to-heart engagement for harmonious, just and peaceful coexistence. When it comes to encountering Christianity and Jesus, Pope Francis wrote in his life-inspiring autobiography, Hope, "A young university student once asked me: 'I have many university friends who are agnostic or atheist. What must I say to make them Christians?' 'Nothing,' I said. 'The last thing you must do is speak. First you must do, and then someone will see how you live, how you conduct your life, and will ask: Why are you doing it? At that point you can speak.'" (Hope - The Autobiography, Penguin/Viking, 2025. 291).

The greatest philosophic and spiritual reflective pause Francis's Pontificate can offer the world will be a praxis of deep Jesus-Stoicism, of other-oriented, self-sacrificial cosmic responsibility to recreate our common home with care and compassion, justice, unconditional love, and mercy.