Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, says Pope Francis will be remembered as a man of simplicity, humility and compassion. Source: ACBC Media Blog.
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, became the first non-European pope in centuries, the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope and the first to take the name Francis when he was elected to succeed Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.
“The sad news of the death of Pope Francis, while it does not come as a surprise given his age and his declining health in recent years, will be received with great sadness by Catholics, and by people of good will, all over the world,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“When Cardinal Bergoglio appeared on the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square on 14 March, 2013, and was introduced to the world as the newly-elected Pope Francis, his simplicity and humility set the tone for a papacy which would be marked by an emphasis on the mercy and compassion of God, and on the Church’s vocation to be a sign and bearer of that merciful love in an increasingly troubled world.
“His famous description of the Church, as a field hospital where wounds could be healed and hearts could be warmed, was a call to a renewal of the Church’s life and mission, grounded in a return to Christ as the source and inspiration of everything the Church sought to do and to be.
“The 12 years of the papacy of Pope Francis were not without controversy. His constant call that the Church should be open to everybody caused some to fear that he was putting at risk the integrity of the Church’s faith and moral teaching.
“He himself insisted, however, that he was ‘a loyal son of the Church’ who, in recognising his own sinfulness, had come to understand that it was the task of the Church, as it was the task of Christ, to embrace people in their brokenness and fragility and lead them to healing and wholeness.”
Parishes around the country will hold special memorial Masses for Pope Francis in the coming days. Information on those commemorations can be found on local parish and cathedral websites.
FULL STORY
Australian Catholics mourn Pope Francis (ACBC Media Blog)
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