"De mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est."
Of the dead, speak nothing but good. This ancient Latin maxim, attributed to Chilon of Sparta and echoed through Roman moral philosophy, has long shaped Western attitudes toward the recently deceased. In times of mourning, we are urged to exercise charity, to soften our judgments, to leave harsh words unsaid.
But what if there is nothing good to say?
Yesterday, Pope Francis died, and with his passing, the Church enters a new moment of reflection—one that faithful Catholics must not shy away from. The temptation in times like these is to surrender to sentiment, to mask failure with flowery eulogy, and to rewrite the past in the name of peace. But peace without truth is no peace at all. And truth requires memory, clarity, and sometimes silence—not out of reverence, but because no edifying words can honestly be offered.
If de mortuis nil nisi bonum is to be taken seriously, then perhaps the only honest thing to say in this hour is nothing.
Pope Francis's reign was marked by a deliberate ambivalence on matters where the Church once spoke clearly. From ambiguous exhortations in Amoris Laetitia, to the Synod on Synodality's theological confusion, to the appointments of prelates with questionable moral and doctrinal records, Francis's papacy consistently unsettled the faithful while earning applause from secular ideologues.
His remarks on issues like same-sex unions, climate change, capitalism, and interfaith dialogue often strayed from the Church's historical witness, not deepening understanding, but diluting doctrine in the name of "accompaniment." He was not the Pope of continuity, but of rupture—more aligned with the spirit of the age than the Spirit of the Faith.
In this moment, the Catholic faithful are under pressure to canonise not only the man but his every word and act. But we are not obliged to participate in hagiographies that mask scandal, nor to speak falsely in the name of kindness.
Sometimes, the only way to honour the dead is to refrain from speech altogether—to allow silence to testify where words would deceive. If no good can be spoken without violating the truth, then we must obey the spirit of de mortuis nil nisi bonum by saying nothing at all.
In the days ahead, tributes will flow from world leaders, liberal woke theologians, and a media ever eager to praise a Pope who mirrored its own values. But for those of us who remain devoted to the unchanging truth of the Catholic faith, our silence may be the loudest judgment of all.
I truly hope that the next Pope will be Catholic.