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It is with profound sadness that I join my brother Bishops, as well as the Catholic faithful in Canada and those around the world, to mourn the loss of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025 in Rome at the age of 88. When the Cardinals elected him to the See of Peter in March 2013, Pope Francis invited us on that first night to “always pray for one another, for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity.” Over the past 88 years of his Petrine Ministry, his pastoral witness and leadership of the Catholic Church as the 266th Successor of Saint Peter marked the Church, the world and our Canadian society with the values of the Gospel. Francis’ frequent consoling image of the Church as “a field hospital” brought us a message of hope, peace, compassion and mercy. He desired the Church to be close to the people, to be present in ways that reflected the mercy, forgiveness and care of Christ. He challenged us to become missionary disciples of faith, hope and love and announce the joy of the Gospel to the world.
Pope Francis desired the Church to be more effective in its pastoral outreach. To promote greater communion, participation and mission in the life of the Church. Francis began by renewing the process and outcome of synods, involving mutual listening and dialogue in which everyone has something to learn. He often stated that to be synodal is the conversion that God expects of the Church in the 21st century.
During his pontificate he made over 40 apostolic journeys around the world and issued many Encyclical Letters and Apostolic Exhortations on contemporary themes such as evangelization in modern society (Evangelii Gaudium), love within marriage (Amoris Laetitia), environmental stewardship (Laudato Si’), human fraternity (Fratelli Tutti), as well as young people and vocational discernment (Christus Vivit). He advanced the Church’s ongoing commitment to address sexual abuse, in meeting with victims around the world in order to promote both justice and healing in their lives. He initiated processes to improve accountability and transparency in the management of the Vatican’s finances. He restructured the Roman Curia (the administrative departments of the Holy See) around the priority of evangelization, the Church’s central mission, and promoted a more participatory, synodal Church.
“Trust in God’s infinite mercy” was the guiding vision throughout Francis’ papacy, as captured succinctly in his final Encyclical Letter “On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ” (Dilexit Nos). Pope Francis yearned for the Church’s message of mercy to be ever present among marginalized people, those on the existential and geographical peripheries of society. He was a tireless advocate for the poor, migrants, the disabled, the elderly, and those struggling to find their place within the Church.
A defining moment for Canadians of Pope Francis’ papacy took place during his five-day Apostolic Journey to Canada in 2022 when he apologized to Indigenous Peoples for the abuse, cultural destruction, and forced assimilation associated with the former Indian Residential Schools. In his [own] words, it was a “penitential pilgrimage” – a journey of 5,700 km with events in Edmonton, Quebec City, and Iqaluit. It reflected his respect for Indigenous Peoples, and the Church’s commitment to continue walking together on the path of truth, justice, healing, reconciliation, and hope.
Pope Francis opened two Jubilee Years during his pontificate: an extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy in 2015 and the Holy Year of Hope which began on Christmas eve, 2024. As Bishop of Rome, Francis demanded much while preaching about a God of mercy, by engaging joyfully with nonbelievers, atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and those on the peripheries of life – many who thought that Christianity has nothing left to offer in the circumstances of life. His was truly “a journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us.” We thank God for the legacy Pope Francis has given us – one that encourages us to live our faith with greater conviction and that guides us as Christians to build relationships of trust and greater compassion with others.
In this time of grief, I invite the Catholic faithful to join their local Ordinary and their pastoral ministers in praying for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis. Let us give thanks to God for giving us such a good shepherd, an eloquent teacher of the joy of the Gospel, a humble witness, and a fellow pilgrim of hope. May the love and hope that Pope Francis found in the Risen Lord continue to radiate through our lives, and may he receive the reward promised to good and faithful servants who were heralds of the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
April 21, 2025
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