"Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God."
His body was laid in the coffin on Monday evening. Pope Francis will lay in state for three days at St. Peter’s Basilica to allow the faithful to pay their respects. The funeral will be celebrated on Saturday, April 26 at 10:00am Rome time in St. Peter’s Square.
Archbishop Dunn met Pope Francis a number of times. He remembers the Holy Father as a humble man with a good sense of humour and a great love of the Church and its people. Archbishop Dunn shared these words:
I appreciated his wonderful view of the Church. It was indeed quite refreshing: he called people to go out to the margins and to see the church as a field hospital. He called for unity within the Church and for a constant reform of the Curia. He called us to a culture of encounter of Jesus Christ with a focus of accompaniment. He reformed the way the Church responded to sexual abuse and his trip to Canada reinforced reconciliation with indigenous peoples. His focus on synodality was a call to be church in a new way. He was true to his Jesuit formation as he constantly called us to have spiritual conversations to discern the presence of God in our everyday lives.
Pope Francis was recently discharged from the hospital after dealing with pneumonia and other health concerns with many praying that he was on the mend. He took part in various Holy Week and Easter liturgies as he was able. He offered the Urbi et Orbi blessing to “the City (Rome) and the World” on Easter Sunday and spent some time greeting the people from the popemobile. His first time doing so since before his hospitalization.
Let us hold Pope Francis in our prayers as well as his family and all who knew him. A date for a local Memorial Mass for Pope Francis will be announced in the coming days. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has also released a prayer card for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis.
Click here for: English card (pdf) and French card (pdf)
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace.
