Secretary-General Hails Pope Francis as ‘Rare Spirit of Unity and Solemn Reflection’, Champion of World’s Most Marginalized People, in General Assembly Commemoration
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly event in commemoration of His Holiness Pope Francis, in New York today:
His Holiness Pope Francis was a man of faith — and a bridge-builder among all faiths. He was a champion of the most marginalized people on earth. He was a voice of community in a world of division. A voice of mercy in a world of cruelty, a voice of peace in a world of war.
And he was a steadfast friend of the United Nations, addressing Member States from this very podium in 2015. During that historic visit, he also spoke of our Organization’s ideal of a “united human family living in harmony, working not only for peace, but in peace, working not only for justice, but in a spirit of justice”.
On behalf of our UN family, I extend by deepest condolences to the Catholic community and to so many others around the world grieving this tremendous loss.
Pope Francis was at the helm of the Roman Catholic Church for a dozen years — but that was preceded by decades of service and good works. As a young man, Pope Francis found his calling in the slums of Buenos Aires, where his dedication to serving the poor earned him the title “Bishop of the Slums”. These early experiences sharpened his conviction that faith must be an engine of action and change.
Pope Francis put that engine into overdrive as an unstoppable voice for social justice and equality. His 2020 encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, drew a straight line between greed and poverty, hunger, inequality and suffering. While decrying the inequality that defines our globalized economy, he also warned against what he called “globalization of indifference”.
I will never forget the first official visit he undertook as Pope, at a time when I served as High Commissioner for Refugees. Pope Francis chose to go to the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa in 2013 to put a global spotlight on the desperate plight of asylum seekers and migrants. He warned against “the culture of comfort, which makes us think only of ourselves, makes us insensitive to the cries of other people”. And on last year’s World Refugee Day, he called on all countries “to welcome, promote, accompany and integrate those who knock on our doors”.
When I met with him at the Vatican as Secretary-General in 2019, I was struck by his humanity and his humility. He always saw challenges through the eyes of those on the peripheries of life. And he said we can never look away from injustice and inequality — or close our eyes to those suffering from conflict or acts of violence.
Always a pilgrim for peace, Pope Francis ventured to war-torn countries around the world — from Iraq to South Sudan to the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond — decrying bloodshed and violence, and pushing for reconciliation.
He stood with conviction for innocents caught in war zones such as Ukraine and Gaza. He did it with his global platform — but he also did it in much more personal and profound ways.
Every day without fail, precisely at 7 p.m., he would quietly call the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City. As someone at the Church said: “He would ask us how we were, what did we eat, did we have clean water, was anyone injured? It was never diplomatic or a matter of obligation. It was the questions a father asks to their son.”
And in his final message on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis underscored the vital importance of ending these conflicts. Throughout, Pope Francis was a clear voice of justice for people and planet. He helped secure the adoption of the Paris Agreement with his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si that called on leaders to protect “our common home”.
He also highlighted the clear ties between environmental degradation and the degradation of humanity. Pope Francis understood that those who contributed the least to the climate crisis suffered the most — and that we have a spiritual and moral duty to act.
In today’s world of division and discord, it is particularly meaningful that Pope Francis proclaimed 2025 to be the year of hope. He was forever a messenger of hope. Now it falls to all of us to carry this hope forward.
At his funeral on Saturday, I was deeply moved to see leaders from across all faiths and political stripes come together in solidarity to honour the life and achievements of Pope Francis — a rare spirit of unity and solemn reflection that we need now more than ever. Our world would be a much better place if we followed his lifelong example of unity, compassion and mutual understanding through our own words and actions.
As we mourn the passing of Pope Francis, let us renew our pledge to peace, human dignity and social justice — the causes for which he dedicated every moment of his most extraordinary life.