BGU’s Prof. Bar-Asher Siegal Reflects on Pope Francis’ Legacy
BGU’s Prof. Bar-Asher Siegal Reflects on Pope Francis’ Legacy
April 24, 2025
Current events, Israel Studies, Culture & Jewish Thought
Prof. Michal Bar-Asher Siegal
The Jerusalem Post – “The last pope [Pope Francis] was exceptional in many ways. First and foremost, he was the first pope chosen outside of Europe since the eighth century, since Gregory III (741–731 CE), who was of Syrian origin,” explains Professor Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and senior lecturer and Vice President for Global Engagement at Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), who specializes in Jewish-Christian relations from the early centuries of the common era.
As archbishop, Francis was known for his modest lifestyle: he left his palace and moved to an apartment in the city and used public transportation. “I saw him, personally, how he got out of the pope’s distinguished car and talked to everyone,” says Prof. Bar-Asher Siegal. “He didn’t first approach the dignitaries but rather the common people, and he really radiated that in every way—washing the hands of the sick and doing things like that, which made him very beloved by the people.”
Francis also worked to promote interfaith dialogue. “He initiated various interfaith dialogues and effectively advanced the Church’s stance on Jews.” He continued in the direction the Church had taken since the 1960s, which holds that Christianity is the tree, and Jews are its roots. “A conciliatory statement towards interfaith dialogue, a very important statement,” says Prof. Bar-Asher Siegal.
Beyond his legacy, Prof. Bar-Asher Siegal concludes the interview with the significance of the papacy’s existence: “Even though we live in a very cynical world, religion still holds a lot of place in people’s hopes, in their moral decisions, and in the way they look at the world and interpret it. This pope is really proof of that.”
In this regard, she says, Pope Francis’s secret was his ability to create a genuine connection with the general public: “Here comes a pope who identifies with the people, relates to the poor, loves football, and the popularity was simply enormous. This shows us the great place religion still holds in people’s lives— we see it in Israel, and we see it with the pope globally.”
Read more on The Jerusalem Post>>
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