When An Agnostic Prays

Last updated on April 22, 2025

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I always respected and admired Pope Francis because he represented and promoted the true values of Christianity, and not power and authority.

I am an agnostic and Pope Francis was the only Pope in my lifetime whom I admired for his humanity, humility and kindness. I had a papal history class in school a very long time ago, Francis stands alone with his qualities.

Today I took time out of my busy day and thought about Pope Francis. Some might call it PRAYER, perhaps it was.

I respected Pope Francis and always wondered why so many conservatives didn’t like Francis. Is it because he insisted that the radical, pastoral love of Jesus Christ be front and center? His view of the church as a hospital welcoming all who are wounded, rather than an exclusive club for those who toed the line is hatred to conservative doctrine.

When I saw Pope Francis on TV, washing the feet of female prisoners I bowed my head and applouded in silence. Never in my wildest dreams did I think a living Pope in real life would come close to walk in the shoes of the fisherman.

I was raised in a Roman Catholic boarding school in Germany. I was raised by Salesian Sisters, yet I drifted away from a church that today is obsessed with abortion while ignoring social justice. Despite the conservatism of American bishops, I believe a significant number of American Catholics felt more aligned with Francis’ approach rather than the stern, dogmatic views of his immediate predecessor. I called Benedict by his name “Ratzinger” because as a young girl I got to meet him twice when he was Cardinal of Munich and Freising (Germany). I remember the shock I felt 2005, when I saw Benedict/”Ratzinger” stepping out on the balcony to be celebrated as the new Head of the Church.

I know many other Catholics who still call Benedict Ratzinger like I do, even though they didn’t have the misfortune to meet him in person. “Ratzinger” was out of touch and tone deaf. He forced conservatism while neglecting the sex abuse scandal hurt the Church. When Ratzinger left, people like me started watching the new Pope. Does the church even know how many Catholics across the world returned only because of Francis?

Does the church know that today prayers for Francis were spoken in Jewish Temples and Buddhist sanghas? Does the church know that even atheists and agnostics like me respected and admired Pope Francis?

As a child and teenager I didn’t just go to weekly mass, but also daily mass. Every morning the sister woke us up with Laudetur Jesus Christus/Praised be Jesus Christ, we then mumbled an answer in Latin, often with our heads under the covers. I eventually left the Catholic church, but to this day try to live by Christian values – taught to me by my grandmother and the nuns who raised me. I am also a feminist because of them – or for them – either way.

There are some aspects of Roman Catholic spirituality that I miss, but a long time ago I have decided that it is more important to me to walk the talk – quitly. Feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead. There is so much work to do. So far I have done nothing so it seems.

Today people all over the world prayed for Pope Francis because he was a man of compassion and decency who represented the best of the Catholic tradition. Today an agnostic older lady in Ohio is thinking about Pope Francis and writing about it on her blog. You didn’t see that one coming, did you?

Many conservatives disliked this Holy Father precisely because of his compassion. What they will never understand is that what they opposed are the deepest principles of genuine Christianity itself.

Pope Francis walked the walk, not just talked the talk, of Jesus. He cared about the vulnerable, the isolated, and the shunned more than any pope in my memory.

The Catholic Church is fundamentally a Christian Church founded by Jesus Christ. Charity, kindness, hope, unity, a benign acceptance of human frailty, an abhorrence of violence and cruelty, and a deep and an ongoing concern for the sick, the poor and the ones we treat like they are insignificant.

To me, Pope Francis was a huge breath of fresh air in the Catholic church. Around a year into his papacy, I noticed how profoundly this world had needed a pope like him.

Today I mourn his loss. May his memory be a blessing, and may his successor follow and widen the path that he walked.

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