COLLEAGUES: As a disciple of justice, I address you today from abroad to mourn and celebrate the extraordinary life of Pope Francis a man whose radical spirit mirrored my own in ways that ignite both tears and fire in my soul.
We gather to honour a giant, a shepherd, a revolutionary clothed in humility, whose legacy intertwines with mine as two radicals bound by an unyielding love for the marginalized and an unrelenting courage to defy the suffocating grip of convention.
His passing is a wound to the world, yet his life remains a blazing torch, illuminating the path for all who dare to dream of justice.
The Radical Pope
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was no ordinary pontiff. He ascended to the papacy not to sit comfortably on a throne, but to kneel at the feet of the poor, the broken, and the forgotten.
His was a radical gospel not of platitudes, but of action. He tore through the gilded curtains of tradition with a heart ablaze for inclusivity, welcoming those the world had cast aside: the refugees fleeing war, the prisoners yearning for redemption, the queer souls seeking love in a Church too often cold to their cries.
I weep for the tenderness with which he washed their feet, for the ferocity with which he denounced economic inequality as a sin against humanity.
His voice thundered against the excesses of capitalism, calling it what it was a machine that grinds the bones of the poor to dust while the rich feast.
He was a reformer, unafraid to rattle the ancient bones of the Catholic Church. He challenged its hierarchy, its wealth, its silence on issues that mattered climate change, migration, the dignity of every human soul.
Oh, how the conservatives trembled at his audacity! How they scorned his humility riding a simple Fiat instead of a gilded chariot, living in a guesthouse instead of a palace. But Francis knew what they could not grasp: true power lies not in pomp, but in the quiet strength of standing with the oppressed.
His willingness to wade into controversy speaking of mercy for the divorced, of dialogue with the marginalized made him a lightning rod, yet he stood firm, his eyes fixed on a horizon of justice we could all aspire to reach.
The Radical Advocate
And here I stand, a man forged in a different crucible, yet tempered by the same flame.
As President of the Uganda Law Society and a former student of the Brothers of Christian Instruction, I have not wielded a crozier, but a sceptre a sceptre (omugo) which I have banged with fury against the tables of corruption, oppression, and indifference that choke my nation.
Like Pope Francis, I have refused to bow to the status quo. I have seen the faces of the marginalized in Uganda the farmers robbed of their land, the youth crushed by a justice system that serves the powerful, and the voices silenced by a government blind to accountability.
My heart breaks for them, and my spirit rises to fight for them.
I have challenged the establishment the judiciary bloated with complacency, the government shielded by impunity. I have spoken annoying truths that burn, calling out corruption and charlatans not as a mere flaw but as a cancer eating at the soul of Uganda.
They have threatened me, mocked me, branded me a troublemaker, and forced me into exile.
But like Pope Francis, I know that to be radical is to embrace the storm, to stand in the rain of adversity and shout until the walls of injustice crumble. My advocacy is not polite; it is a cry, a roar, a demand that the law serve the people, not the powerful.
A Shared Vision
Look at us, two radicals across continents, tethered by a shared vision.
We are not radicals of chaos, but of conscience men who saw the world as it was and dared to imagine it anew.
Pope Francis banged the table of a Church steeped in tradition; I banged the table of a legal system mired in corruption.
His Holiness spoke for the poor of Buenos Aires and beyond; I spoke for the dispossessed of Kampala and the villages forgotten by progress.
We both understood that justice is not a gift bestowed—it is a garden cultivated through sweat, tears, and defiance.
Our enemies were the same: entrenched power, apathy, fear of change. Francis faced the scorn of cardinals who clung to their privilege; I faced the wrath of politicians and judges who feared my voice.
Yet adversity did not break us—it forged us. When they criticized his progressive stances, Pope Francis doubled down with love. When they threatened me for my outspokenness, I tripled my resolve with truth.
Together, we inspired him with pastoral visits to slums, me with speeches that shook the halls of the Uganda Law Society.
We lit fires in the hearts of others, proving that one voice, rooted in conviction, can spark a revolution.
A Shared Legacy
Oh, the impact of this man! Pope Francis reshaped the Church, softened its edges, and opened its doors to a world in pain.
His Holiness’s encyclicals on the environment, his pleas for peace, his embrace of the outcast these are not mere words, but seeds planted in the soil of humanity, sprouting hope where despair once reigned.
And I, in my corner of the world, have stirred a generation of lawyers to see their calling not as a profession, but as a mission to defend the defenseless, to dismantle systems that oppress.
This is the Radical New Bar, and our aims are consolidated into one vision: VISION 2060.
Today, I weep not just for his loss, but for the beauty of what he gave us. I feel his spirit beside me, urging me onward, whispering that the fight is not over.
Our legacies are intertwined two radicals who showed that change is possible, even in the shadow of giants, when you dare to defy, to love, to persist.
A Call to Radical Love
As I bid farewell to Pope Francis, my brother in this sacred struggle, I implore you: do not let his light dim.
Embrace the radical spirit we shared.
Challenge the conventions that bind us whether in faith, in law, or in life.
Stand with the marginalized, for they are the heartbeat of justice.
Let us be unafraid to bang the table, to weep for the suffering, to fight for the dream of a world where every soul is seen, every voice is heard.
Pope Francis, you were a radical, a father, a friend.
Your life was a hymn of justice, and I will sing it until my last breath.
Rest now, not in silence, but in the echoes of transformation you inspired. For it is through radical acts of love and justice yours and mine that we will change the world.
Farewell Jorge. May your soul rest in peace.
Isaac Ssemakadde
President, Uganda Law Society
24 April 2025
