The Pope’s funeral was symbolic of the man

The funeral of Pope Francis is perhaps his last chance to set his mark on the papacy. The ever so slightly pared down ceremony today is symbolic of the man, as were so many of his other ways of being pope. It will be difficult for Francis’s successor to return to the more ornate habits of his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, let alone the monarchical ways of earlier popes. In some ways this is a shame – those traditions weren’t about the individual, but about the office, though they may jar with modern sensibilities.

One of the problems about Francis, in fact, was the extent to which he was successful as a personality pope. His personal austerity, his impatience with the showy aspects of religion, his directness and his undeniable human touch constituted what you might call a brand.