The Spanish pope of Israel, Bianca Lott, in Argentina, and her encounter with the Archbishop of Argentina, Edward J. Farrell, primate of the Roman Catholic Church
Pope Francis appeared at Easter Mass at the Vatican the day before he died, greeting crowds of worshipers and reaching out to children along the route of his vehicle. A lasting ceasefire in Gaza was called for in an address delivered by his deputy.
“He used to call us at 7 p.m. every night. No matter how busy he was, no matter where he was, he always called,” George Anton, spokesperson for the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza, told NPR on Monday, the day of the pope’s death at age 88.
The body of the pope was to be deposited in a coffin by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the primate of the Roman Catholic Church, on Monday evening. The new pope is chosen, and the Dublin-born cardinal is acting head of the Vatican.
Bianca Lott is studying in Rome for the spring semester. Given that Francis died on Easter Monday, she said she felt “a strange happiness at the timing,” which she called “poetic.”
Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger shared: “My heart is heavy as our world has lost a powerful, prophetic, and loving voice. I am thankful for the reward of joy beyond all comprehension for a truly great and loving Universal Shepherd.
Francis, the first-ever Latin American pope, once served as archbishop in Buenos Aires. The government declared seven days of mourning in the Argentine capital and citizens gathered at the cathedral for a special mass.
The pope communicated with many Latino people around the world in Spanish. Hatciri Lopez, a lifelong Catholic, told the station that Francis grew her faith.
She said that it is easier to get to your heart with the message in hand than it is with a translator. “Just as soon as I heard him speak, it would just strike my heart right away. I would just want to cry and just feel a sense of happiness and hope for the future.”
Pope Francis, the first pope to say “gay” and “drown from our hearts,” said Antone, a video call to the Holy Family Church, Gaza, in 2023
Martin Pendergast, secretary of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans Catholics in London told The Associated Press that Francis is the first pope to say “gay” and that he has changed the way he speaks.
Pope Francis asked what they ate that day. The call took place just before a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas — which would end two months later. Aid groups have warned of possible famine in Gaza. On that day in January, the Rev. Youssef Asaad was delighted to tell him they had chicken wings.
“We lost a saint who taught us every day how to be brave, how to keep patient and stay strong,” George Antone, at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, told the news agency.
In 2021, Francis was the first pope in history to travel to Iraq, meeting the revered Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani and visiting Ur, the reputed birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, known as the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
His stance against war and violence, and his constant calls for peace and coexistence, will have a huge impact on the world.
In a video released by the Vatican in January of the nightly routine, Pope Francis, head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, called the parish priests in a WhatsApp video call. They greeted each other in Italian while one of the priests urged parishioners to gather around.
The Holy Family congregation was often terrified, but the pope during his calls “drove fear from our hearts,” Anton says. “Today we feel like we don’t have anything.”
More than 300 Palestinians have sheltered at the church since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. Another 300 have sheltered at a nearby Greek Orthodox church, where an Israeli airstrike killed 17 people early in the war. Two women at the Holy Family church were shot dead, also in 2023, by what the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem said was an Israeli military sniper. Israel denied that it targeted civilians.
“What Do You Eat?” asks Antony of Gaza City, the founder of the Evangelical Synod of Gaza, and the birth of Jerusalem
“He would ask us questions such as how we were, what did we eat, and whether we had clean water.” It’s a fact, Antony says. “It was never diplomatic or a matter of obligation. It was the questions a father would ask.”
In the region where Christianity began, the several hundred remaining Christians in Gaza hold tight to their faith. At Gaza City’s St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox church on Palm Sunday last week, families carried palm fronds to commemorate the entry of Jesus to Jerusalem. Some of the women wore brightly colored, knee-length dresses.