Shack dwellers pray for another 'Global South' pontiff to follow in Pope Francis's footsteps

Informal settlement dwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) is “praying” that the new Roman Catholic pope will be someone like the late Pope Francis, ideally from the Global South, and, more importantly, someone who will continue to advance the interests of “the poor and the marginalised in our world”.

“I am also thinking that it would really be ideal for a new pope to be coming from the Global South, particularly from Africa or Asia for that matter, and I am kind of optimistic that we are likely to have someone from our own soil,” said S’bu Zikode, the president of the AbM on Monday.

However, he said what was “more important”, and what he and his movement were praying for, was for someone who would follow in Pope Francis’s footsteps.

“I mean, we can have somebody from Africa or Asia, but if we do not have somebody that would follow in the footsteps of the late Pope Francis, we would have a serious problem.

“In other words, as much as I would love to have a pope coming from Africa or Asia, but that will mean nothing if that pope would then subscribe to the right-wing forces. So, we are just praying that the new pope continues to advance the interest of the poor and the marginalised in our world. And that's what we are hoping. No matter where he comes from, if he would be able to raise his voice to its fullest in a sense that it would be a voice that reinforces the agenda of the poor,” he said.

The AbM, one of South Africa’s most prominent organisations representing informal settlement  dwellers with a focus on “housing, land and dignity” for all, took a moment during its monthly general assembly on Sunday to reflect on Pope Francis’s lessons and legacy as the leadership of the 1,4-billion-member church prepared to gather in Rome on Wednesday to elect a successor for the “People’s Pope”.

Zikode said he told AbM members that “they are very lucky” that the pope sided with them and was "not neutral". He said the late pontiff “made it clear that God is not found in paradise”.

“He is found in places that are looked down upon, in informal, shack settlements, in dark corners of our society. That's where you can actually expect miracles of His Holiness.”

He said during their reflection they were once again reminded of “the importance of a human creature as an image of God” and “how we should be embracing and valuing humanity”.

“It is on that basis that Abahlali continues to stand in solidarity with the people of Congo, the people of Swaziland, with the people of Palestine, for instance, because we can easily identify (with) these countries who are facing difficult moments of wars.

“We can easily identify them with us, the violence that they face. Although there's no amounts (or way of measuring this) – one cannot compare the pain that the Palestinians are going through – we see that every day happening in us. We understand that there are no human borders, which also Pope Francis was about – breaking boundaries of humanity."

Zikode not only met the late pontiff but was lucky enough to be among a select group of 10 World Meeting of Popular Movements (WMPM) delegates invited to a “private audience” with him in 2016.

The WMPM is part of the pope’s legacy, an annual meeting of grassroots social activists aimed at creating an “encounter” between the church and organisations such as Zikode's to tackle housing, land, poverty, inequality and related issues.

Through this initiative Zikode said the pope declared his support for the global struggle for justice, equality, inclusion and the fight against poverty, unemployment and other social problems.

However, during their special moment with the pope he and other WMPM delegates were left “dumbfounded” for a while. He gave them a "quick lesson", explained Zikode. Instead of praying for them and the resolutions of their laundry lists of problems they had brought all the way to the Vatican City, Pope Francis turned around and asked them to “pray for me”.

Zikode said he later understood the pope’s message and lesson. Pope Francis was ““acknowledging the holiness in each and every one of us”, the "power in us" as grassroots activists to transform the world. It was his way special "prayer" for them, his way of saying he was not a "messiah" and that everyone had agency and the power to help change the world.

“So we took time yesterday (on Sunday) to actually reflect on the life of Pope Francis and what that means to us. What legacy he's leaving behind and also hoping that the next pope will follow on his footsteps in putting humanity first and advancing the cause of justice and have courage to even call other heads of state to be on their senses when they deal with human beings.”