Priests from around the world mourned the passing of Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday while reflecting on the late pontiff’s life and historic papacy.
The pope passed away at 7:35 a.m. local time on Easter Monday, April 21, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. The 88-year-old pontiff led the Catholic Church for a little more than 12 years.
News of the pontiff’s death brought a worldwide response of mourning and remembrance of Francis, who had suffered a double bout of pneumonia and a lengthy hospital stay prior to his death.
‘His name is Francis’
Following the pope’s passing, countless Catholics in Rome on Monday made their way to the Vatican to pray and share memories and reflections of the pontiff.
Father Hans Kreuwels, a priest from the Netherlands visiting Rome with his brother, told CNA at St. Peter’s Square that the late pope’s papal name of Francis “[reminded] us of Francis of Assisi and what he did — he was looking to help the poor.”
“We are sad on one side because this very important pope died,” Kreuwels. “He passed away, but it’s on the day of Easter Monday. It’s the day of the Resurrection. And as we remember this pope, he’s a pope of mercy.”
The priest pointed to the “Angels Unaware” statue in St. Peter’s Square. Crafted by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz, it depicts 140 migrants of different ethnicities and nationalities standing on a boat. Kreuwels noted that Pope Francis’ first papal visit was to the island of Lampedusa, ”where many, many refugees from north of Africa tried to go over the sea, and many thousands of them died.”
The refugee statue “[reminds] us of this visit of the pope and also calling us up to open our hearts for those who are suffering, the refugees, [and] poor people.”
“This jubilee is the year of hope,” the priest observed. “It’s the hope of eternal life. And we greatly believe that on this day of Easter, [Francis] went back to his father, and we hope that he will be happy forever and we see him in heaven again.”
Also in St. Peter’s Square on Monday, two sisters from the Missionaries of Charity order silently offered a rosary in memory of the Holy Father. Pope Francis had in the past praised the order’s “beautiful” ministry at the Vatican.
‘He died with his boots on’
Father Pablo Gefaell, a priest from Spain who teaches canon law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, came to the square to pray in silence with a rosary in his hands in front of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The Spanish priest reflected on how Pope Francis had been in St. Peter’s Square just one day before.
“He wanted to be near the people till the last day of his life. In my country we would say, ‘He died with his boots on.’ We are thankful to him for that.”
“I want to pray for his soul. I have no doubt that he’s already in heaven,” the priest said. “But we need a new pope and we are praying for the new pope and for the Holy Spirit to illuminate the cardinals.”
Gefaell had the chance to meet the pope a few times while living in Rome. He said he remembers in particular his sense of humor.
‘What do you do now?’
A priest from the Diocese of Cleveland was in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday morning when he learned that Pope Francis had died just a few hours before at the age of 88.
Father Eric Garris was praying at the tomb of St. John Paul II — a personal hero of his — when he got the notification on his phone that the Holy Father had died.
“So, I just stood up and looked around, and I’m like, ‘Does anyone know this? What do you do now?’” Garris told CNA. “I wanted to pray for the repose of his soul. … I ran down to the tombs of the popes [underground St. Peter’s Basilica] and I knelt at the tomb of Peter, and I prayed for the repose of the soul of the successor of Peter.”
The 34-year-old Garris, who has been vocations director for the Diocese of Cleveland for three years, was visiting Rome to celebrate the Triduum, Easter octave, and the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, originally planned for April 27 and now postponed due to the pope’s death.
After praying in the grottoes of the Vatican basilica, Garris was joined in St. Peter’s Square by three other American priests staying in Rome. The four of them prayed the Office of the Dead and chanted the “In Paradisum” (traditional prayers for the dead) for Pope Francis’ eternal repose.
The Cleveland priest said it was and is still shocking to lose the man who had been pope throughout his own eight years of priesthood — especially after just seeing him alive, up close, on Easter Sunday.
Garris was one of hundreds of priests to concelebrate the Vatican’s Easter Sunday Mass on April 20, where he was three rows away from the altar in St. Peter’s Square. Afterward, he received Pope Francis’ blessing with the rest of the world, when the pontiff appeared on the central balcony of the basilica to wish everyone a happy Easter during the traditional “urbi et orbi” blessing.
Not long after, the priest was in the large thoroughfare leading to the basilica, Via della Conciliazione, when the still frail and ailing pope greeted the crowds gathered at the Vatican from his popemobile — for the first and only time since his 38-day hospitalization for double pneumonia less than one month ago.
“I think if Francis was one thing, he was a pastor, and he wanted to be with his people yesterday,” Garris reflected. “His pastor’s heart and pastoral theology that he not only wrote about but lived was an inspiration for me.”
A tall man, Garris was able to catch a good glimpse — and photo — of Francis despite the flock of cheering people. The priest thought the pope did not look well, but it also never crossed his mind that less than 24 hours later, he would be learning Francis had passed away.
“When Francis was elected, I was in seminary,” he said, “and I was actually in Church history class [at that moment], and I made our professor end class early because I said, ‘We’re living Church history!’”
“I’ve been a priest for eight years. It’s been all under Francis’ papacy. And there’s something comforting knowing that there’s continuity in a father,” he reflected. “What happens now? It’s not in any way that there’s any sense of fear — I completely have trust in the Holy Spirit — but I just got so used to him being here.”
“I look at Francis and I’m like, what a joyful disciple and shepherd,” the priest added. “I think at the end of the day, I prayed for him not out of obligation but because [of what the Gospel says]: ‘Lord, this is your servant, who faithfully served you. Well done, good and faithful servant. Come share in your master’s glory.’ And I pray that, and I hope that for him.”
Courtney Mares, Hannah Brockhaus, and Kristina Millare contributed to this CNA report.
