📍 Sunday 10AM Mass
✍️ Written by Dato’ Dr Dionysius S.K. Sharma
🎓 Adjunct Professor, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
🙏 CDM Parish Pastoral Council Chairman (2021–2025)
Our late Pope Francis, inspired by the life and works of St Francis of Assisi, was known for his humility and emphasis on God’s mercy. His Holiness promoted interreligious dialogue internationally and expressed care and concern for marginalized communities. He led several reforms within the Vatican and launched the current Synod on Synodality in 2021, calling for a more inclusive, socially conscious and participatory church.
His 2015 historic encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ (Praise Be To You) and his 2023 Apostolic Exhortation “Laudate Deum” (Praise God) criticizes lavish consumerism and irresponsible economic development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take “swift and unified global action” to eradicate poverty, ensure equitable access to the planet’s resources and to address climate change.
His visits to Asia and the Pacific in 2019 and 2024, and his advocacy for unity, respect for one’s culture, interreligious dialogue, care for the poor and for the environment, was a testament to his determination to spread the good news of God’s love and divine mercy. I was part of a Malacca Portuguese Eurasian entourage that attended Holy Mass celebrated in Bangkok by His Holiness. This pilgrimage was especially meaningful to us, as the Catholic Faith grew in the Malay Peninsula as a result of the Portuguese conquest of Malacca in 1511 by Alfonso De Albuquerque, who was devoted to Mother Mary, similar to our late Holy Father’s deep devotion to Our Blessed Mother.
Several Catholic movements have emerged, inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, with the primary goal of promoting care for the environment and advocating for ecological justice. Guided by the Episcopal Commission for Creation Justice of Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, all the nine Archbishops and Bishops of Malaysia signed the Ecological Diocese Pledge on 12th July 2023. Our own Church of the Divine Mercy signed the pledge to become an Ecological Parish on the 19th of February this year. And so, the legacy of the late Pope Francis, through his historic encyclical Laudato Si’ lives on in our very own parish and we are all called to participate in making our church an Ecological Parish. Our journey forward in this initiative will be led by our Laudato Si’ Ministry and the Parish Pastoral Council. May we carry on the legacy of Pope Francis by transforming our lives, living sustainably and becoming environmental stewards of all of God’s creations, whilst caring for the poor and the marginalized in our communities.
Eternal rest grant unto Pope Francis, O Lord, and let your perpetual light shine upon him. Amen