Alistair Dutton: Pope’s greatest legacy was ‘his authencity and love for the poorest’

Apr 24, 2025

By Kielce Gussie
The news of Pope Francis’ death led to an overwhelming response of condolence messages and personal stories from people, organizations, and communities around the world.

The Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis Alistair Dutton also joined these other voices in expressing his personal memories of encounters with the late Pope. He remembers Pope Francis having “a wonderful sense of humor, but he didn’t let you off the hook.”

In their different meetings, Dutton explains the late Pope had a “very real and urgent faith that really understood the urgency of the Gospel message.” And the Secretary General says this characteristic will stay with him forever.

A legacy of authenticity
When thinking about Pope Francis’ legacy on the Church and Caritas in particular, Dutton says the papal vision for the Church was clear: “a simple Church, a poor Church for the poor.” Throughout his 12-year pontificate, the late Pope kept an emphasis on the poor and most marginalized and he described Cartias as “the tenderness of the Church of the poor.”

Pope Francis had a special “compassion and love for those who suffer and are on the margins of society.” But, Dutton, stresses it was not in an abstract sense. The late Pope was a major advocate for social, environmental and ecological justice because he saw them not as two separate crises but one.

Caritas Internationalis Secretary General describes Pope Francis’ greatest legacy as “his authenticity and his deep profound care and love for the poorest and most marginal.”--Vatican News