Statement from Bishop Denis on the Death of his Holiness, Pope Francis

It is with great sadness that we learned of the news of the death of Pope Francis. While we knew he was very ill, seeing him on Easter Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, greeting the faithful, brought great comfort to many. The announcement of his death on Easter Monday morning was all the more a shock and sad, at the suddenness of his passing.

Pope Francis came from the periphery, as the first Pope from the Americas, and those at the periphery – the poor, the migrant, the prisoner, the refugee, the outcast – were always at the centre of his pontificate. Only last Holy Thursday, despite his own frailty, he took time to visit Rome’s Regina Coeli prison and his first visit outside Rome as Pope was to the tiny island of Lampedusa to remember the many drowned at sea, in search of refuge and a new beginning on mainland Europe.

Pope Francis will be remembered for many things and there will be much commentary over the next while, but for me, his message of inclusion and mercy was key. “The name of God is mercy” he reminded us. And now we commend him to the mercy of God. At the heart of his message of hope in this Jubilee Year was the reality of the life, death and resurrection of Christ and in this Easter Octave, Pope Francis is welcomed into the eternal embrace of the resurrection. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Every blessing and good wish to all of you during this Easter Octave,
Denis