Rest in Peace
Pope Francis gave the Blessing at Sunday’s Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Square, then mixed with and waved to the thousands of people from his simplified Pope mobile, returned to his apartment and celebrated Easter Monday with God.
April 21, 2025 – The world mourned the death of Pope Francis, who died from a stroke and other complications due to recent health battles with double pneumonia.
Pope Francis became the first Jesuit Pope and the first Latin American Pope in the history of the Catholic Church 12 years ago, when he was named the new Pope at the conclave held after Pope Benedict XVI renounced his position as the Pontiff.
Argentine-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio was not a typical priest. He was a scientist in a lab prior to heeding “the call,” which he believed was a sign from God he received when walking one night on his way to finalize wedding arrangements with his fiancée.
He heard the sound of a lonely saxophone coming from inside a church and it drew him inside, where he ended up discussing feelings about serving the church during confession. He joined the Jesuit order in 1958. The plight of the poor was his major focus. He lived simply, spent his time amidst the people, he walked or rode his bike almost everywhere he went. He spoke from the heart whether it was while he was teaching or coaching football (soccer) or from his pulpit or in the street. His words touched almost everyone who listened to him. Father Bergoglio was not seeking advancement in the church, but he was named the Bishop of Buenos Aries, and his trademark denial of the trappings of the wealth of the church itself became an issue when he refused to live in the Cardinal and Bishop’s Residence, but rather in a simple apartment. He was thought to be progressive at a time when the Church itself was increasingly conservative.
He felt the Church was no longer in touch with the people and had become stagnant and was losing membership. He came to feel he would serve the church better if he retired and became a simple parish priest once again. In fact, he wrote two letters of resignation to Pope Benedict and received no answer, so he booked a flight to Rome. Later that very day he received a letter from the Vatican. The Pope was calling him to Rome. A coincidence? No. Bergoglio did not believe in coincidence. “We are all in God’s hands,” he would say.
It was at this important time when the two men who were both struggling with different crises of conscience discovered that Pope Benedict wanted Cardinal Bergoglio to remain and Pope Benedict to renounce the papacy, which he did on February 28, 2013.
Once again, Pope Francis eschewed the more glorified vestiges of the position and kept his own simple silver cross and used only the white cap and white papal vestments and his own shoes. He did not move into the Pope’s suites at the Vatican but stayed to live in the simple two-bedroom apartment he was assigned to use during Conclave.
He went on to travel throughout the world preaching against the forces that create poverty, encouraging love and kindness to all, involving more women in positions of authority in the church, encouraging participation to the youth of the church, using innovative ways to reach out to the entire world. He preached inclusivity and declared that it was not a crime to be homosexual. He fought to bring peace, fight climate change, offer refuge to those in peril.
In what I believe is his first address after his selection in Lampedusa, Italy, Pope Francis said:
“We are seeing the globalization of indifference. There is a culture of conflict, which makes us think only of ourselves. Makes us live in soap bubbles … which, however lovely, are also insubstantial. We’ve become used to the suffering of others. ‘It doesn’t affect me.’ No one in our world feels responsible. Who is responsible for the blood of our brothers and sisters? The refugees washed up on the shores of the Mediterranean? ‘I don’t have anything to do with it. Must be someone else. Certainly, not me.’
When no one is to blame…everyone is to blame.”
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