Catholics around the world are mourning the death of Pope Francis who died Easter Monday at the age of 88 from a cerebral stroke, after suffering for months from serious health issues. The late pontiff will lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican ahead of his funeral on Saturday.
Many across Connecticut have been attending memorial services for the late pontiff to pray for the man who led the Catholic church for more than 12 years. Francis became pope unexpectedly due to the very rare abdication of the papacy from Pope Benedict.
Bishop Frank Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport said he’s been reflecting on the ways Pope Francis will be remembered.
“I, like everyone else, have been reflecting on a remarkable leader, a remarkable man. Who has, in many ways I think, changed the tone of the papacy for a very long time,” Caggiano said.
“Sometimes contributions of popes are doctrinal through the centuries, with ecumenical councils, and some of them are changes in tone and style and emphasis, and I think for Pope Francis, he certainly created a whole new tone and expectation of the papacy.”
Part of what made Pope Francis so popular among the faithful was his connection to those who are less fortunate and those who are hurting.
“Given the suffering he endured in his own life, both as a young man, as a cleric, as a bishop, and of course, as a Jesuit, it made him particularly empathetic to those who suffered,” Caggiano said. "The imprisoned, the addicted, the young, the poor, the immigrants, the refugees, but I think that's what the cardinals saw in him, that he would bring that to the papacy, and I think he did it very effectively.”
Chris Altieri is a Fairfield resident and a former Vatican Radio journalist. Altieri, who is now a contributing editor to the Crux and the Catholic World Report, reflected on the unique way Pope Francis approached his time as leader of the Catholic Church.
“His pontificate was very extraordinary and momentous in many ways. He's going to be a tough act to follow, that's for sure. He had some big shoes to fill," Altieri said. "He came in with some extraordinary circumstances for the church, and he was a maverick. He did things his own way and didn't apologize for it."
Altieri said Pope Francis was a master of the grand gesture and shared one example of how he did things that not everyone embraced.
“There were other more powerfully affecting signs, you know, that troubled some people, for reasons of liturgical sensibility, like washing the feet of prison inmates on Holy Thursday, for example, washing the feet of women of non-Christians.”
As the proceedings in Rome to mourn Pope Francis begin, Bishop Caggiano shared his thoughts on how the pontiff may be remembered.
“I would invite people to remember him as a man who had a pastoral heart. A man who is not afraid to create bridges. A man who really went to places that many clerics of any rank in the hierarchy would not necessarily choose to go to. I think he should be remembered as a man who had tremendous courage to raise issues that others want to just leave behind or not address.”
Bishop Caggiano hopes that this could be a moment of rebirth for every Christian as they await who will be selected as the new Pope.
