But the real question is: what do we do with a pope today?
We live in a world where authority is suspect, faith is a hashtag, and spirituality an extension of personal branding.
The Church no longer dictates. It no longer shapes. It remains like an oversized object, in a world that runs without asking where.
So why is it that, when a pope dies, we still feel something?
Maybe because ā deep down ā we still need someone who isnāt for sale. Who doesnāt work. Who doesnāt perform.
Francis wasnāt a solution. He was a system error. A voice off-key. A presence that couldnāt be monetized.
And thatās exactly why he mattered.
Now that heās gone, the real question returns:
Do we still need someone to remind us that we are not just algorithm and appearance? That not everything must serve a purpose? That doubt, limits, and silence have value too?
Maybe the Church is over. But the need for meaning ā that one ā still hasnāt found where to go.