With profound sorrow and a heart filled with reverence, I extend my condolences on the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis—spiritual leader of the world’s Catholics and one of the most peace-seeking figures of our time—to the global Christian community, to all nations striving for justice, and to every soul devoted to dignity, coexistence, and resistance against oppression.
Pope Francis was not merely the head of the Catholic Church; he was the awakened conscience of our century. In a world unraveling under the weight of militarism, neocolonialism, structural discrimination, and systemic poverty, he stood above the towers of religious and political power as a herald of a different voice—a voice for the downtrodden, the marginalized, and for peoples whose cries are drowned in the noise of media and geopolitical calculations.
He was the voice of those forgotten by history—the voice of occupied nations, stateless peoples, religious minorities in the Middle East, and of nations like ours, the Kurdish people, who have long fought for self-determination, independence, and the dignity of human freedom.
In Pope Francis, we found not only the Pope of the poor but the Pope of resistance. He did not merely honor the diversity of faiths; he believed in the right of nations to remain awake, to rise, and to shape a future worthy of their hopes. He understood that peace is not born from silence in the face of injustice, but is the fruit of justice—and justice, without courage, cannot be born.
At a time when global powers respond to human suffering with indifference or political opportunism, Pope Francis dared to speak from the depths of the human conscience. He defended bridges of dialogue, and gave true voice to transnational solidarity with the oppressed. He was a rare example of leadership—one that stands not in palaces, but in the alleys of human suffering.
The people of Kurdistan, who have long endured the wounds of colonial compromises and authoritarian maps, felt the sincerity of the Pope’s message in their very being. He reminded us that faith, when detached from the people, is but an empty ritual; and that politics, if not in service of humanity, becomes a mere instrument of domination.
The passing of Pope Francis is not only a loss for the followers of Christianity, but for all nations, movements, and individuals who believe in the lofty ideals of freedom, justice, and equality. May his legacy be a guiding light for the road ahead, and an inspiration to build a world in which the dignity of humankind stands above the might of power.
With deepest respect, solidarity, and historical responsibility,
**Ashtyako Poorkarim**
Leader of the Kurdistan Independence Movement
Paris, April 2025
