Churchgoers streamed from San Fernando Cathedral into the afternoon daylight Monday, some wiping away tears as they waited to greet the celebrant after a particular mass.
Their mourning adopted the Vatican’s early morning announcement that Pope Francis had died at age 88. His loss of life got here sooner or later after he had emerged to bless the trustworthy on Easter Sunday after a protracted bout with pneumonia.
Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller referred to as the chief of the Catholic Church, a person he met a number of occasions, “the ethical voice of the world.”
“From Jesuit provincial to Bishop of Rome, his vocation was cast in prayer and repair,” García-Siller mentioned in his homily in the course of the midday mass. “He stood unafraid earlier than entrenched pursuits, denouncing conflict, championing ecology and difficult the Church to be a ‘discipline hospital,’ for wounded humanity.”
Pope Francis made historical past in quite a few methods at a pivotal time in Church historical past. Born of modest means in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the pontiff was elected in 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI retired.
He grew to become the primary Jesuit pope, the primary from the Americas and the primary from the Southern Hemisphere.
The 266th pope’s tenure additionally was marked by clashes with Church traditionalists for his embrace of a extra inclusive Roman Catholic Church. “The tide was exhausting, however he by no means wavered,” García-Siller mentioned. For many who have been in opposition to him, the pope additionally prayed, he added.
Pope Francis spoke fervently of empathy for the poor and welcomed members of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood. Quoting from the encyclical “Fratelli tutti”, in 2023, the Pope mentioned love, “makes us try towards common communion.”
He advocated for compassion and dignity for migrants all over the world.
“He needed everybody to expertise the love of God, a merciful God,” García-Siller mentioned. “[That’s] very obscure in at the moment’s world.”
The pope’s message of unity and dignified therapy of migrants was felt particularly in San Antonio, he mentioned. A number of ladies who attended the mass additionally pointed to the pope’s message of unity and compassion in mild of actions by the present presidential administration to arrest and deport migrants and authorized residents with out due course of.
“The care of migrants and refugees within the Archdiocese of San Antonio has been [going on] for a lot of many years,” García-Siller mentioned. “And we’ve turn into in some ways in all these many years an indication of hope.”
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg shared condolences on social media saying the pope’s “dedication to compassion was a guiding mild for us all.” U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) mentioned in a submit on-line that Pope Francis was “a real advocate for the powerless and the marginalized.”
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) shared photographs on-line taken the 2 occasions he met Pope Francis and recalled how remarkably humble he was. “His legacy of service and religion with proceed to encourage generations,” Cuellar mentioned.
Oblate College of Theology President Fr. Louis Studer, OMI, mentioned he’ll miss Pope Francis, his favourite of all of the popes.
“He was somebody not hesitant to make some very tough selections as a result of he was trustworthy to his conscience,” Studer mentioned. “He was a person of deep religion who beloved Jesus Christ and knew that love champions all. The poor got here first for him, which is all in regards to the Gospel of Jesus, what Jesus taught us, however he was inclusive of everybody.” I’ll miss him.”
In 2023, leaders of the neighborhood advocacy group COPS/Metro met with Pope Francis, considered one of a number of such conferences additionally in 2022 and 2024, at his Santa Marta residence within the Vatican.
“He was humorous, insightful, he was supportive, and he was so beneficiant together with his time,” mentioned COPS/Metro chief Sonia Rodriguez, a member of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church. “He informed us that if we had been within the Vatican, he couldn’t give us greater than quarter-hour. However since we have been assembly in his lounge, we’ve on a regular basis on the planet.”
The group talked with the pope about their work and about creating leaders in parishes and church buildings, she mentioned.
The pope admired that side, saying, “It was like a small atom that continues to develop and develop, and fairly quickly it’ll turn into a river, and that river will change the panorama,” Rodriguez mentioned.
“It was inspiring to have him have a look at what we do and replicate on it in that style,” she mentioned. “It was a really transferring expertise, one thing I don’t suppose that I’ve ever felt earlier than. We have been clearly within the presence of greatness.”
Throughout an occasion at Mission San Jose Catholic Church on Monday, Fr. Dennis Schafer, a Franciscan friar, additionally spoke of Pope Francis, saying there “was no yet another worthy.”
“He washed the ft of Muslims. He washed the ft of poor individuals. He was at all times current,” Schafer mentioned. “He labored for justice, for the nice of the world, for creation. I used to be amazed when he took the title Francis… he actually took up the charism of [Saint] Francis.”
Following the pope’s loss of life, the Church begins a nine-day interval of mourning. Funeral preparations are pending. The method to pick out a brand new pope is mostly held inside 15 to twenty days, with the cardinals selecting the date and time for the conclave.
The previous Bishop of Dallas, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, is serving because the appearing sovereign of Vatican Metropolis.
Reporter Xochilt Garcia contributed to this report.
