On Easter Monday, in the early morning, having given his final Easter address the day before, the pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died at the age of eighty-eight at his home in the Domus Sanctae Marthae after some months of illness and a stroke. As both Bergoglio and Franciscus (or Francis, Francisco, or Francesco, depending on your language), Jorge was a reformer. The first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, the first pope from the Americas, the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from outside Europe since 741 (Syrian pope Gregory III), and the first pope to give himself a name not taken by another pope since 914 (pope Lando), he broke new ground with just his election. Born in Buenos Aires on the 17th December 1936, Bergoglio worked as a janitor and a bouncer, and at a food-hygiene lab in his adolescence. There, he worked under Esther Ballestrino, a political activist, and once helped her smuggle communist books from her house after she feared it would be searched. As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he worked to engage with those who lived in slums in the city and greatly increased the church's presence there. As Ordinary for the Eastern Catholics in Argentina he also served their community, and he did so diligently, according to the Major Archbishop of Kyiv, as he did his many appointments. "[He] took care of our Church in Argentina,” said Shevchuk. Appointed to the College of Cardinals by John Paul II, Bergoglio continued in his humble way, living in a modest apartment, commuting by bus, and cooking for himself. At the 2005 conclave, it is said it came down to just he and Ratzinger, so come 2013 and a new conclave, at seventy-six, old for a pope but younger than Ratzinger had been, it shouldn’t have been the surprise it was when he was elected. Following his election, he lived for a while in the room he was randomly assigned at the beginning of conclave in the Domus Sanctae Martae, a building usually used to host guests to the Vatican. He declined to take up residence at the Apostolic Palace for the remainder of his papacy – “I must live my life with others,” he reasoned. Faithful to his Jesuit vows of poverty, he refused much of the luxury that he could have enjoyed throughout his papacy, and worried not about aesthetics and traditions associated with the papacy, in stark and welcome contrast to his predecessor, instead choosing to focus on works and piety. As pope he was revolutionary in many ways. In his openness to women in the church (he appointed Raffaella Petrini as President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, the Vatican’s head of government, a position of significant executive power), the LGBT community ("If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?"), inter-religious dialogue, and married priests, especially older priests and in areas where priests are in short supply, he looked like an empathetic leader in a modern world. As archbishop he taught “not [to] be rigid in administration of the Eucharist,” and as pope, in ‘Amoris Laetitia’, he advocated a more nuanced approach towards divorced and remarried Catholics. He also found progressive allies in his criticism of capitalism and the death penalty, which the Catholic church now opposes in all cases, and his advocation for climate justice, refugees, the poor, mercy, and love (the latter two being regularly invoked as the better focus when members of the Catholic church were lost or “obsessed” with issues of contraception, abortion, and sexuality), and for his views on atheism ("The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience"). And more recently, he was praised for his rebukes of Donald Trump for his treatment of immigrants (while visiting the US-Mexico border, "A person who thinks only about building walls … and not building bridges, is not Christian.") and of JD Vance for his attempted theological justification of his and the President’s treatment of immigrants ("Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups.”). His death was met with an outpouring of grief around the world from Catholics and non-Catholics, with condolences and praise given even by senior Protestant, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist leaders. Over forty countries declared a period of national mourning, including countries with tiny Christian populations, like Jordan, India, and Bangladesh. His funeral, held on the 26th April, was pared down so as to be more in line with the ceremony afforded to bishops and he was buried outside the Vatican in Rome in the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore. His tomb bears only the inscription ‘Franciscus’.

The astute reader will notice that this article is not in fact about politics. As I write these articles, I have found it beneficial to have a lighter apolitical topic about which to write!
This month featured only two major tournaments, the Indian Wells and Miami Opens. Both at the 1000 level on both the men's and women's tours, the sunshine double makes March the most exciting grand slam-less month of the year! Because of the relative lack of tournaments I will begin this rundown halfway through February, (and definitely not just because of the British success in Doha).

ATP
17/02: Qatar Open, ATP 500
Brits excelled in Doha. Draper (GBR-) impressed to reach only his second final at the 500 level, losing to 5th seed Rublev (RUS-) 5-7 7-5 1-6. Seeded 8th, he didn't have as much of a task as the draw looked like it would give him, but he made the most of his luck, beating Berretinni (ITA-), who had beaten Djokovic (SRB-), and Lehecka (CZE-), who had beaten Alcaraz (ESP-). Alcaraz will have been disappointed to only reach the quarters and will have looked ahead to the 1000 tournaments of March to capitalise on world no. 1 Jannik Sinner's conveniently timed 3-month doping suspension, which will see him out of action until his home Italian Open, just in time for the French. But the real British action was in the doubles draw. British duos Cash (GBR-) and Glasspool (GBR-) and Salisbury (GBR-) and Skupski (GBR-) set up an all-British final, with the former pairing taking the title, their second win together at this level. The win took Cash to a career high of 18 in the doubles rankings, and at 28, will be worth keeping an eye on, the second youngest player in the top 25. In the semis, Salisbury and Skupski beat dynamic duo Patten (GBR-) and Heliövaara (FIN-) in the match tie-break. The pair continue to enjoy their success, and their lofty rankings, two grand slams in hand.

17/02: Rio Open, ATP 500
Sebastián Báez (ARG-) beat three of his fellow countrymen to reach the final, where he became the first to defend the Rio Open, defeating Müller 6-2 6-3.

24/02: Dubai Championships, ATP 500
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE-) defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN-) to at last take his maiden ATP 500 title, 6-3 6-3. All British doubles players won their first matches to reach the quater-finals, where Patten and Heliövaara exacted their revenge on Skupski and Salisbury, beating them in straight sets. The duo reached another final, their fourth at this level or higher in the past year, but couldn't find they magic and lost in a very close match 6-3 6-7^(12-14) [8-10] to Bhambri (IND-) and Popyrin (AUS-), who had beaten top seeds Arévalo (ESA-) and Pavić (CRO-) in the first round.

24/02: Mexico Open, ATP 500
Tomáš Macháč (CZE-) dispatched Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6^(8-6) 6-2 in a tournament which saw the second, third, and fourth seeds (Ruud, Paul, and Rune) withdraw in the second-round with food-poisoning, and first seed Zverev (GER-) toppled by 19-year-old qualifier Learner Tien (USA-) to take his record against top 10 players to 2 for 0.