Central Ohio Catholics are mourning Pope Francis, who died Monday morning in Rome at the age of 88 following weeks of health complications.
Pope Francis was the first Pope from the Americas and was known for outspokenly stranding up for the marginalized, poor and immigrants of the world. He was born in Argentina in 1936 and left Latin America to become Pope in 2013.
“The Holy Father consistently emphasized care for our common home and human fraternity: the need to see one another as brothers and sisters. We would do well to learn from his wisdom,” said Rev. Earl Fernandes, Bishop of Columbus, in a statement.
Bishop Fernandes said he is praying for Pope Francis. He also gave his condolences to the people of the Diocese of Columbus.
Fernandes will hold a special requiem mass for Pope Francis at 7 p.m. Easter Monday at St. Joseph Cathedral.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Pope Francis' work with the door was a testament to his great humility.
"He was an inspiration to us and to millions around the world. His genuine love of and devotion to all people – the poor, the unborn, those without a home, those emigrating to build a better life for themselves and their families, those of all faiths, and those with no faith – was evidenced to the world from the day he was selected to serve as Pope until his last public appearance on Easter Sunday," DeWine said in a statement.
Vice President JD Vance, who had clashed with Pope Francis over the Trump administration’s policies on migrants, met with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday. Monday morning, he expressed his sympathies on social media platform X.
“My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” Vance wrote. “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill.”
Vance also said he will remember Pope Francis for a homily he gave in the early days of COVID-19 in late March 2020.
“When evening had come” (Mk 4:35). The Gospel passage we have just heard begins like this. For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void…” the homily begins. “…We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.”
Chyrissa DeSantis, a philosophy student at Ohio State University and devout Catholic, said he was considered among younger Catholic women as “the nice pope.” She said she saw one article that referred to Pope Francis as the “Pope of Mercy.”
“I think that’s a great title to remember Pope Francis by. He really did a lot to bring in the poor and marginalized and be a good shepherd to them,” DeSantis said.
Twenty-year-old DeSantis said she’s saddened by the Pope’s passing, but she’s also interested to see the process through which a new pope is elected. When mourning concludes for Pope Francis, Cardinals will gather in Rome to vote on a new pope.
DeSantis said she hopes the next pope is from the United States, though there has never been a north American pope.
“A lot of U.S. Catholics might say this, but I think that especially there are some issues that are going on with the church in America that are very unique to the rest of the world,” DeSantis said.
She said some Catholics in the U.S. still prefer the Latin mass. Pope Francis during his pontificate, or tenure as pope, gave bishops more power to “suppress” access to older forms of the mass, in favor of more modern masses. DeSantis said that made some Catholics in the U.S. “very, very upset.”
She added that Pope Francis was known for speaking with less clarity than his predecessors.
“It's very easy to misinterpret what he's saying or to just not be able to grasp the meaning at all. And that has been very difficult for a lot of the faithful who want to be able to receive the teaching from the pope,” DeSantis said.
She hopes the next pope is clearer in his teachings. She said, however, that it’s important for the next pope to carry on Pope Francis' respect for the marginalized.
