The Diocese of Phoenix remembered Pope Francis in its Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, part of a nine-day period around the world for Catholics to mourn his recent passing.
Bishop John Dolan led an estimated 1,000 worshippers at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix, telling the congregation that Pope Francis followed Jesus’ example by sharing and living the truth that no one is beyond God’s love and mercy, nor should anyone be excluded from hearing that message.
“Francis reminded people there were no barriers to God’s love, no person God did not want to reach or could not reach,” Bishop Dolan said in his homily.
That meant reaching out not only to those in the pews but extending that hope to the “periphery” of life.
“…[to] those on the streets, those across the border, those in prison, those being humanly trafficked. No one is forgotten,” the bishop continued.
In the day’s Gospel reading, from the 20th chapter of St. John, the risen Jesus appears to His frightened and distraught apostles waiting on God behind locked doors in the upper room where they were staying in Jerusalem. As He did then, and continues to do by the Holy Spirit, Jesus breaks through “physical walls” to extend His gift of salvation. Bishop Dolan said Pope Francis embodied that theme in declaring two Jubilee Years — an Extraordinary Jubilee in 2016 and this year’s Ordinary Jubilee.
“[He] invited us to tear down walls within our heart; the walls that would separate us from God; the God of mercy,” the bishop said.
“There isn’t a sinner under the sun or a sin under the sun where mercy can’t be found.”
To worshippers, it wasn’t only what Pope Francis preached, but how he did so.
And how he interacted with people.
“He was warm; pastoral,” said St. Thomas the Apostle parishioner Shane Sweeney. “There were no barriers. That strikes people who may have a stigma about the Catholic faith. He was friendly, always smiling. That communicates [beyond] languages; that draws people. You can tell there is warmth. He naturally embodied that.”
St. Augustine parishioner Ana Herrera found Francis inspiring “because he dealt with people and issues from his heart,” she explained.
“What I always received from him was [that] he tried to do the right thing not because what others said or thought about him was important, but because it was important what God is going to feel or think about him,” she said.
“It was a message of honesty.”
And, said another worshipper, it was a message of simplicity.
“He was simple in the way he spoke, and he cared,” said Ss. Simon and Jude parishioner Rudy Jaime. “He spoke in a way that laity could relate to and understand.”
And while she didn’t always agree with his positions, fellow Ss. Simon and Jude parishioner Pat Wickert “honored and respected” them as “coming from the head of the Church.”
She, too, found the pope to be pastoral.
“He was a public example of holiness, a very caring man. He always did what he felt was the will of God.”
Perhaps no portion of Sunday’s rite captured the essence of what worshippers and clergy felt Pope Francis embodied than its processional hymn.
“Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring your love,” worshippers sang in “Prayer to St. Francis,” and later, “Where there is despair in life, let me bring hope.” And in its chorus, “O Master, grant that I may never seek so much…to be understood, as to understand.”
History’s first pope to take the name Francis, the late Holy Father also was the first Jesuit to assume the papacy, and the first Latin American pope.
That distinction was special for Fr. Miguel Solis, Ss. Simon and Jude’s parochial vicar, who was at the basilica in Washington, D.C., when the pope visited in September 2015, canonizing Fr. Junipero Serra. During that visit, Francis also became the first pope to address a joint session of Congress.
“I remember we were in the Basilica of the (National Shrine of the) Immaculate Conception,” Fr. Solis recalled, “sitting about 20 to 30 feet from the middle aisle. As soon as he stepped into the basilica, it was a beautiful experience.
“You could feel the presence of the Holy Father. I’m going to miss him.”
Cathedral Rector Fr. Matthew Henry almost saw in person what he described as the pope’s “amazing closeness.”
Fr. Henry remembered that while studying in Rome in 2013, he was exiting a hall with a gathering of fellow seminarians, priests and other students. The group spied the papal car. While they waited, others joined the growing collection of bodies ahead of them, finally obscuring Henry’s view altogether. But the lack of any personal interaction with Francis never veiled the pope’s priestly example to Fr. Henry, who said his “incredible approachability” served as a reminder to the rector in the pulpit and the confessional.
“It’s not people on one side and me on the other, it’s all of us on the same side, and we’re walking toward the Lord. I think that sense has really inspired my ministry,” Fr. Henry said.
Ss. Simon and Jude parishioner Blanca Jacobo also cited the pope’s sense of unity.
Jacobo said the transitions from Pope St. John Paul II to Pope Benedict to Pope Francis brought “a lot of change” to the Church. Francis brought “serenity and hope” with him. She found it especially manifest during the COVID pandemic, when people were forced to isolate and remain at home, watching or listening to Masses online.
“Everybody just kind of felt lost, and he brought that, like, ‘Hey, it’s going to be OK. We’re going to continue on,’” she recalled.
She also said the pope’s addressing of global conflicts helped her understand their impact upon herself and fellow members of the faithful.
Home to more than 2 million Catholics, the Diocese of Phoenix is part of a worldwide Church whose numbers have grown.
According to a Vatican News article published March 20, the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics reported there were 1.4 billion Roman Catholics worldwide in 2023, up from 1.39 billion the prior year.
A new pope will soon lead those members of the Church.
During the nine days of mourning, called “Novendiales,” no formal discussions of Francis’ successor will take place. Ancient Christian and Roman customs dedicate the period to grieving the pope’s earthly departure and prayer for the repose of his soul.
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected to the papacy March 13, 2013, becoming the 266th pope. The conclave to choose his successor will begin May 7.
The next pope will inherit Pope Francis’ 2025 Ordinary Jubilee theme, “Hope does not disappoint.”
Fr. Solis said Catholics will have no trouble continuing in that message.
“Each day is an opportunity to get closer to God. Hope is the fuel that keeps us going,” he said.
Bishop Dolan echoed that theme in Sunday’s homily.
“In essence, what we’re celebrating today is ‘Everything is going to be OK,’” he said.
And Francis’ physical death will not make Ss. Simon and Jude parishioner Pat Wickert any less of a pilgrim of hope.
“I feel sadness, but our Church goes on. The Holy Spirit gives us what we need to lead us in this life through the holy Catholic Church. God has never left us. Our Lord always leads us. This is a time of mourning, and it’s a special time for the Church, a time we all come together and grieve together.
[But] Jesus said to Peter, ‘Upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’ That’s always my hope. But it’s more than hope, it’s trust.”
On Wednesday May 7, the cardinals will enter the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave, the formal process for choosing the next pope. Watch Conclave 101 to learn more about the process.
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Prayer for Pope Francis
O, God, faithful rewarder of souls,
grant that your departed servant, Pope Francis,
whom you made successor of Peter and shepherd of Your Church,
may happily enjoy forever in Your Presence in heaven
the mysteries of Your grace and compassion,
which he faithfully ministered on Earth.
Though our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever. Amen.
