Iowa City group inspired by Pope Francis reflects on mission

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - Now days away from his funeral, Iowa groups join many around the world in reflecting on the legacy of Pope Francis. One group, directly inspired by his teachings, plans to continue working with this example.

The Iowa City Catholic Worker is a nonprofit with a focus on humanitarian efforts by helping immigrants with their new lives in the United States. They work to help with immediate needs like housing assistance and food. Recently they’ve found themselves busy advocating for undocumented immigrants.

The organization started because founding members were inspired by the message Pope Francis shared in a speech to a Joint Session of Congress back in 2015.

“He said very early on that that we need to smell like sheep, that we need to be in the trenches doing the work and Catholic Worker is that kind of work,” Jane Noble Davis, with the Iowa City Catholic Worker, said. “The gift of this Pope was that he was very aware of the poor and taking care of the poor, which is a work of Christ.”

Pope Francis was criticized from within the church for his stances on things like the LGBTQ+ community and climate change.

”If people are threatened by acts of empathy, then I think that they are not following the Christ that we follow at Catholic Worker,” Noble Davis said. “We are open to all people.”

In response to his death Monday morning, the group says they will remember Pope Francis through their work caring for refugees and the poor, hoping for change.

“We do social justice work and that is hopefully going to change policies in a bigger picture so that the people who come to us will hopefully be less because their needs are being met more,” Noble Davis said.