Pope Francis' legacy in time, one year after his death

Pope Francis will likely be remembered for his gestures: his lone walk under the rain in St. Peter’s Square to pray during the pandemic, his embrace of migrants, his unscripted phone calls and off-the-cuff remarks.

But behind the images, the pontificate of Jorge Bergoglio was built on something quieter — “starting processes” as he would say, a strategy aimed not at immediate results, but at shaping the future of the Catholic Church long after his death.

From church reform to episcopal appointments and a renewed focus on the peripheries, Francis planted seeds meant to outlast him.

Religion & Politics

Photos of the Week: Pope Leo in Africa, Bengali New Year

Pope Leo XIV is cheered by faithful while visiting a nursing home in Saurimo, Angola, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Medichini)

In Opinion

And finally, New Yorkers recall Sikh history of social justice at Vaisakhi festival

In 1675, Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur completed a revolutionary act of selflessness that would change the faith’s trajectory and moral demands, according to Sikh martyrology.

At the time, the Mughal Empire in South Asia mandated conversion to Islam. Sikh tradition holds that Bahadur, the ninth of 10 Sikh gurus, chose to defend the religious freedom of Hindus in Kashmir, who had appealed to him for help, said Amandeep Singh Sandhu, a United Kingdom-based educator from Everythings 13, a Sikh educational organization. He and his disciples advocated on behalf of the Hindus in court, and as a result, they were executed.

His martyrdom and Sikhs’ two-fold desire to defend themselves from persecution and stand with others in need ultimately led to the establishment of the faith’s Khalsa, a community of ritually initiated Sikhs who commit to both rigorous spiritual devotion and martial courage.

In that vein, the origins of the spring Sikh festival of Vaisakhi lay in the guru’s radical decision to be in solidarity with the oppressed, said Harmeet Kaur Kamboj, an attendee at the Manhattan Sikh Association’s Vaisakhi celebration on Saturday (April 18). About 150 people gathered on the sixth floor of a West Village building to attend the community event.

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