Rest in peace, Pope Francis

Francis, our Pope, has gone to the Lord. In these days that we celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead, we hold to our sure and certain hope that Francis, together with all who have slept in Christ, will also rise to eternal life in him.

My impression of Pope Francis was that, despite his responsibilities as Roman Pontiff, being a pastor, a parish priest, was truly his charism. He always seemed to love preaching, hearing confessions, and being with people.

I was privileged to meet Pope Francis in person twice. Once when he came to the United States in 2015, and once when our seminary visited Rome in 2018. Below is my favorite picture, where you can see, after the "formal" photography was gotten over with, Pope Francis telling us a joke in his colorful Argentinian Spanish. (I am at the bottom-right of the photo, visibly amused.)

Rest in peace, Francis. May the angels lead you home.

In Christ,

Fr. John