Write to letters@thetimes.co.ukSir, The Pope’s death ushers in a difficult period for the Roman Catholic Church. A man devoted to the poor, having grown up in Argentina during the postwar rise of right-wing states — many of which had harboured Nazis — the Pope had seen how they were supported by senior Catholic churchmen as well as the military hardmen controlling many South American countries. He saw the emergence of a strong swing from Catholicism to Pentecostalism and other free churches, where a welcoming hand was extended to the poor and to Catholics concerned about the disregard shown to them by their own cardinals and bishops. When he was elected Pope, he foresaw the battle he was likely to have with ultra-conservative forces in
