Quotes
Francis has left everyone a wonderful testimony of humanity, a life of a saint and universal fatherhood."
The note closed with the words Pope Francis was very attentive to us, he made us feel heard and loved,
she said, sharing sunscreen with friends under the warm, blue sky We had already planned to come to Rome for the canonization of Carlo Acutis,
she said, referring to the teenager who died of leukemia aged 15 in 2006 and was set to become the first millennial saint For this reason, a group of poor and needy people will be present on the steps leading to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major to pay their final respects to Pope Francis before the entombment of his casket,
the Vatican said Thursday Praise is due to you in Zion, O God. To you we pay our vows in Jerusalem,
When that was postponed, we decided to come anyway and be here in this very important moment,
I could not have been anywhere else today, for me Pope Francis was a wonderful pope, a gift that the lord gave us,
That they should be the ones to welcome Pope Francis’s coffin in the basilica is because these people are those who represented the focus of his mission,
said Father Giulio Albanese, head of missionary cooperation and communications for the Vicariate of Rome This is not their first pope death,
said Father Paul Alger, a theology student from Augusta, Georgia He was a king, but he didn’t live like a king,
said Sister Faith Abugu, a nun from Enugu state in Nigeria The final image we have of him, which will remain etched in our memory, is that of last Sunday, Easter Sunday, when Pope Francis, despite his serious health problems, wanted to give us his blessing from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica,
said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, who presided over the service and led an unusual funeral Mass in which a multitude of clerics were invited to co-celebrate Despite his frailty and suffering towards the end, Pope Francis chose to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly life. He followed in the footsteps of his Lord,
Now is another time … everybody is against everybody, when only the language of power and brutality [is spoken], and not of friendship, cooperation and respect,
He was our holy father, and as Catholics we feel as if we lost our father. His pastoral approach sometimes got him in trouble, but for me it was beautiful. He was a man of mercy,
This is the universality of the gospel and a welcome to all,
said Gemma Simmonds, an author and senior research fellow at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge, England I see all of these readings as a traditional affirmation of the Christian message of forgiveness and hope and affirmation and the messages that Pope Francis emphasized in his papacy,
said Tina Beattie, a professor emerita of Catholic Studies at the University of Roehampton in London The outpouring of affection that we have witnessed in recent days following his passing from this Earth into eternity tells us how much the profound pontificate of Pope Francis touched minds and hearts,
This is the time for the oldest traditions,
That is very much what Pope Francis wanted to emphasize,
added Ms. Simmonds, who is also a sister in the Congregation of Jesus, a Catholic religious order for women Dear Pope Francis, we now ask you to pray for us.”
Recalling that Francis often ended talks with an invitation to pray for him, the cardinal concluded
