Analysis: Pope Francis' legacy marked by reform efforts and outreach to 'marginalized' people; ABC News, April 21, 2025

Phoebe Natanson , ABC News; Analysis: Pope Francis' legacy marked by reform efforts and outreach to 'marginalized' people

""God is not afraid of new things! That is why he is continually surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us in unexpected ways."

So declared Pope Francis in October 2014, just over a year-and-a-half after he was elected, as he beatified Pope Paul VI, who led the Catholic Church nearly two generations earlier...

Pope Francis, who died on Monday, called for "a church for the poor," a church that would reach out to what he called the "peripheries." He called for a humble, more merciful and inclusive church, and repeatedly remembered the "marginalized" people in society.

His papacy brought a series of firsts to the role, which endeared him to people all over the world. Among these: He was the first to take the name Francis, after the medieval friar St. Francis of Assisi, who vowed to live in poverty."

Library workers fight for safer working conditions amid coronavirus pandemic; NBC News, April 8, 2020

Olivia Solon, NBC News; Library workers fight for safer working conditions amid coronavirus pandemic

"Despite the American Library Association recommending in a statement March 17 that libraries close to the public, many librarians and support staff are still being asked to travel to work or risk being laid off, organizers say, even though many services could be delivered remotely.

Libraries in states across the country, including in New York, Iowa, Florida, California and Minnesota, have started offering curbside pickups to reduce contact between workers and patrons. Organizers believe this puts librarians at an unnecessary risk...

Library staff, particularly those in urban areas, spend a lot of time helping people apply for jobs, housing and government services that have shifted online -- services that will be more critical than ever when the pandemic is over and libraries reopen.

“Libraries are used by poor people, homeless people and others with a need for basic social services that have been destroyed over the years,” Macrina said. “It’s heartbreaking to take another necessary service away from their lives, but we have to do it because it’s a life or death situation.”"

Khizr Khan responds to the latest from Trump: ‘Typical of a person without a soul’; Washington Post, 7/31/16

Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post; Khizr Khan responds to the latest from Trump: ‘Typical of a person without a soul’ :

"Responding to Trump’s latest statement, Khan said, “This is faked empathy.”

“What he said originally — that defines him . . . People are upset with him. He realizes, and his advisers feel that [his original statement] was a stupid mistake. That proves that this person is void of empathy. He is unfit for the stewardship of this great country. You think he will empathize with this country, with the suffering of this country’s poor people? He showed his true colors when he disrespected this country’s most honorable mother… all the snake oil he is selling, and my patriotic, decent Americans are falling for that. Republicans are falling for that. And I can only appeal to them. Reconsider. Repudiate. It’s a moral obligation. A person void of empathy for the people he wishes to lead cannot be trusted with that leadership. To vote is a trust. And it cannot be placed in wrong hands.”"