Catholic communities across Ohio said Pope Francis, 88, leaves behind a powerful legacy after he died Monday morning, a day after greeting the faithful on Easter in St. Peter's Square.
Francis, an Argentine, was the first pope from Latin America, known for his humility, his advocacy to combat climate change and stand up for LGBTQ+ inclusivity. He became pope in 2013. He died Monday after stroke and heart failure. He was recently hospitalized with pneumonia for more than a month.
“Certainly, saddened by his passing, but also glad that his suffering has ended,” the Rev. Raymond Guiao, president of St Ignatius High School on Cleveland's West Side, said. “I’m sad his leadership of the church is over. I find it to have been a very inspiring leadership of the church for the past 12 years.”
Francis was also the first Jesuit pope. St. Ignatius is a Jesuit school. Guiao said he appreciated that Francis stood up for the poor, the sick, the disabled and immigrant communities. Guiao said he loved seeing the Pope step out of his popemobile to be up close with his followers.
“What he left for Northeast Ohioans is the same as what he left for the universal church. I believe his legacy is going to be a great one. A great one because he was a very humble man,” Guiao said. “Many of my Jesuit brethren had great hopes that he would bring great dignity to the office, to the papacy, and I safely say he did.”
Ben DeGarmo, senior program manager with the Jesuit Volunteer Cops based in Cleveland, said Francis represented a needed change after the resignation of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
"He was exciting in a way that felt like breathing life into an old structure that needed a little bit of updating," DeGarmo said. "He, in a lot of ways, felt like the kind of person who was pushing, and sometimes yanking, the church into the modern day."
DeGarmo said he appreciated that the pope made it a point to listen to all, not just practicing Catholics, and that he was an everyman.
"One of those things that comes to mind was him wanting to wear the shoes he wore for years, being one of the people and not above them. That really set a tone for what was to come," he said. "When I think of Francis, I think of hope, energy, I think of excitement, gentleness and humility."
Ezra Escudero is a volunteer for the Catholic Diocese of Columbus. Escudero, who is Mexican American, said it was meaningful to have a pope who was representative of Latin America.
“Someone who was very personally and intimately familiar with the challenges that so many Latin Americans have faced over the decades; he walked that walk. He knew that story. He lived that story,” Escudero said.
Escudero said Francis’ influence brought Hispanic Catholic communities together.
“We have a very diverse Latino population in our state. In that way, Pope Francis offered us a very unifying effect,” Escudero said. “He was from Argentina. He never seemed like he was only for those people from Argentina. He represented all well and reached out to all very well.”
