Readers' letters: Pope Francis had a rare gift – he was greater than his office

It is a rare gift for anyone to be greater than his office. One such person was Pope Francis, who, among many other things, will be remembered as the smiling Pope. His smile lit up the papacy and the Vatican, which, in itself, is no mean feat.

Pope Francis took ownership of his office, which led him to be dubbed the People’s Pope and the Slum Bishop. The millions of people, who met him through his 12 years as pontiff commented on his humility and humanity. Not for him the pomp of the Church or the straitjacket of infallibility. Underpinning all this was a rock-like faith.

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned was his bravery. By the very nature of his papacy, Pope Francis made many enemies, mostly behind the scenes in the Vatican itself. Always an outsider, he was most at home with ordinary people, well beyond the Roman Catholic Church itself. The overused word, charisma, certainly applies to him. He had it in spades.

Pope Francis was dubbed the People’s Pope and the Slum Bishop (Picture: AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

Moral voice

Pope Francis will be sorely missed by millions across the world. He was a moral voice who raised awareness about the repercussions of climate change, biodiversity loss, global inequalities, environmental decay and food insecurity.

In his last Easter sermon, a day before he passed away, His Holiness remembered the wretched peoples of Gaza. He lamented a ruthless and cruel war that afflicted deep wounds on women and children who bear a disproportionate burden. He prayed for people and leaders in the world to resolutely pursue a voyage of peace and tranquility. Let us hope that his tenacity, steadfastness and stoicism will act as a shining light for humanity at large.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London

Life of service

Your editorial on the death of Pope Francis – “A Unifying Presence in a Polarised World” – was very carefully written, tiptoeing as it did around a trip he took to South Sudan which included the now disgraced Justin Welby, visits to synagogues and speaking out against anti-semitism, and a trip to the “Arabian Peninsula” calling for reconciliation amongst people of goodwill.

His concern for the people of Gaza, his near daily video calls to the Catholic community there and his frequent calls for peace, as well as his mention of genocide, is nowhere to be found. You mention that he referred to Welby and the Church of Scotland Moderator as brothers. I am sure it did not later escape his notice when Welby refused to share a platform with Jeremy Corbyn, vilified for his commitment to the Palestinian cause.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and the best cartoon I have seen on the subject of the Pope’s death shows St Peter and a host of angels waiting to meet Francis, but Francis is already halfway through a modest door saying “Service Entrance”.

It would behove our entire political class, Starmer, Reeves, Rayner, Johnson, Truss, Farage and the wannabe Emperor in the White House to learn from the Pope’s example – a true man of God, Christ-like, very much bringing to life the words of the hymn Kyrie Eleison: “Walk amongst them, I’ll go with you… take your life into the world.”

Marjorie Ellis Thompson, Edinburgh

Six-figure salaries

Thanks for your story which revealed that since 2019 there has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of senior staff in our Scottish universities earning a six-figure salary (21 April).

It is no wonder that the teaching/lecturing unions in universities and the National union of Students are demanding increased scrutiny of these grossly inflated high salaries, with Sir Peter Mathieson of Edinburgh University earning a total pay packet of £422,000 per annum and the Principal of Stirling University £414,000.

Sir Peter has called for a debate on funding, stating that the present model is “unsustainable” (which is another debate) – no doubt without a blush at his own six-figure salary. I have no doubt that he thinks he is worth every penny of it.

In response to the NUS criticising these eye-watering sums, Universities Scotland came out with the same tired old cliche – that “it needed to offer high pay to attract the right level of skills and experience” . How many times have we heard this trope in order to justify the unjustifiable in our deeply unequal society?

Sure, “pay peanuts and you get monkeys” but equally so “pay too many peanuts and you get greedy monkeys”. There is no established correlation between earning power and managerial dexterity. Witness the financial crash of 2008 with bankers earning huge salaries having to be bailed out by the state to the tune of more than £400 billion.

A little humility from university leaders such as Sir Peter would go along way.

Jim Park, Edinburgh

Border poll

It was intriguing to note Fleur Anderson, the Northern Ireland Office minister, recently highlight that opinion polls will determine if and when a border referendum is called.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, the power to call a border poll in Northern Ireland rests with the Secretary of State.

The legislation states the NI Secretary should call a referendum on Irish unity “if it appears likely that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the UK and form part of a united Ireland”.

However, there are no set criteria for when a referendum would be triggered. Previous Secretaries of State have refused to outline what exactly would be required. As highlighted, Ms Anderson said that “it would be based on opinion polls”.

With opinion polls in Scotland showing a considerable majority now in favour of Scottish independence, it is rather hypocritical to note the UK Government stating that the future of the people of Northern Ireland should be based on opinion polling, but that is not the situation in Scotland.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh

Respect the law

Maggie Chapman, Scottish Green MSP, accused the Supreme Court judges who decided unanimously on the definition of a woman, of “bigotry, prejudice and hatred” (Scotsman, 22 April).

In any tinpot assembly, this outburst would at the very least cost Ms Chapman her place on the Human Rights-Plus Committee, possibly much more. But this of course is Scotland. Even for SNP-Green members in Holyrood, the blatant disrespect for the process of law is off the scale. How the rest of Europe and the world must laugh.

The Presiding Officer should get this under control, but given it is Holyrood, almost certainly she won’t take action. Someone said: “It’s just a wee pretend parliament.” It most certainly is.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Propaganda war

Jill Stephenson claims, erroneously in my view, that Grangemouth is a “propaganda tool” for the SNP (Letters, 22 April).

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said during last year’s election campaign “we would step in to save the jobs at the refinery”. At Prime Minister’s Questions on 14 January Labour MP Brian Leishman said: “In the general election campaign, the Labour leadership promised that if we won, we would step in and save the Grangemouth refinery… the government should use it [the government’s power] to intervene, save the refinery jobs, protect Scotland, and deliver on the promise to build Grangemouth for the future.”

Was it actually the Labour party that used Grangemouth as a propaganda tool in its general election campaign?

E Campbell. Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire

US dictatorship

September this year brings the 81st Anniversary of Operation Market Garden – when British, American and Polish paras were dropped over the bridges at Nijmegen, not knowing the Nazis were waiting for them. The bravery shown by the Allied troops against vastly superior numbers became the stuff of legends.

Had Donald Trump been of an age to take part, he would have been a lot less blasé in his lack of commitment to Volodymyr Zelensky’s Ukraine.

The Americans and British were interlocked as allies and trusted each other. Back then, President Theodore Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill worked together to defeat the common enemy: Nazi Germany.

It has been Ukraine’s misfortune that the present US President lacks the courage to fully and comprehensively support the fight to push Putin’s Russians back into Russia. Permanently.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told us Trump may walk away from peace talks with Putin. If Trump had ever been on a battlefield, amongst the dead and dying, he would never think of terminating his attempts for a peace agreement or supplying weapons and cash.

Zelensky has invited Trump to Ukraine to see what war can do to his country. I doubt very much he will accept or place himself in personal danger.

Trump has confirmed beyond doubt, he cannot be trusted. His sanctions, scattered like shotgun pellets, have caused many countries huge fiscal damage, value of stocks and shares nosediving. Hundreds of jobs disappearing daily.

It has been said that Trump is running a Mafia state. His conviction for fraud confirms his complete lack of respect for the law and the US Constitution.

Few will disagree that democracy is rapidly disappearing whilst this egotistical authoritarian turns his country into a dictatorship.

Doug Morrison, Tenterden, Kent

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