On March 13, in the year 857, two men were put to death by the Islamic authorities at Cordoba, in Andalusia. One of them was Rodrigo, a priest from Cabra. Rodrigo had two brothers, a Muslim and an atheist, who quarreled fiercely. On one occasion when Rodrigo attempted to play peacemaker, they turned on him. He was dragged through the streets by the Muslim, who saw that the surest way to bring about his brother's death was to announce that Rodrigo had converted to Islam. When Rodrigo insisted that he remained a Christian, he was charged with apostasy and martyred. Pope Francis, who died this morning at the age of 88, was elevated to the papacy in 2013 on the feast day of Saint Rodrigo. The coincidence is suggestive. During his pontificate, Francis would also find himself pressed into the role of a would-be mediator'not only between rival factions within the Catholic Church but also between the Church and secular liberals, who saw in the first Latin American pope a fellow traveler....
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