The CSB and SJU community mourns the passing of Pope Francis on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025.
While Francis’ impact was so far reaching, we know this is but a short list of his effect on our community:
Pope Francis went in the most powerful way possible, in active servant ministry, he worked a full day on Easter, he was with us the people of our Church, as a radical act of hope, even in his declining health. He was a minister through and through until the very end… His legacy will be as a Pope who opened doors and windows to all. Pope Francis was a significant reason for my calling into lay ministry, and his continuous reminder of “the joy of the Gospel” will forever influence my role as a minister, neighbor, and friend. Amen. Cindy Liliana Gonzalez, CSB Campus Ministry
Pope Francis highly influenced my own spirituality, especially the spirituality of encounter with our neighbor, end of creation and his deep skill of listening and who he chose to wash the feet of. Fr. Michael Peterson, OSB
Pope Francis was a true steward of Christ’s mission here on earth. From efforts and work helping the poor to championing the environment, he truly inspired us to care for God’s creation and for one another. He taught us how to live humbly and to serve one another. He was a champion for those on the margins and I hope his work continues to be driven by the church going forward. Nick Hamak ‘26
What an amazing Saint we have lost today! I believe his spirit will now be living in us all the more. Tess Cavanaugh ‘27
Pope Francis encouraged young people to go out and do the work of the church. Our students have frequently been encouraged by the witness of mercy, acceptance, service, and care of all creation that Pope Francis embodied. His closing words in his Post-synods exhortation addressed to young people he encouraged them with great hope: Dear young people, my joyful hope is to see you keep running the race before you, outstripping all those who are slow or fearful. Keep running, “attracted by the face of Christ, whom we love so much, whom we adore in the Holy Eucharist and acknowledge in the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters. May the Holy Spirit urge you on as you run this race. The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith. We need them! And when you arrive where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us.” Fr. Nick Kleespie, OSB
Pope Francis led with listening, mercy, and a commitment to justice. I admired how his heart always dwelt with those who were most marginalized. He charted a path forward for a more inclusive, loving church during his years as pope. Now it’s up to us to continue his good works. May Pope Francis now rest in God’s gentle peace! Jessie Bazan, Benedictine Institute
We are so grateful to have had a leader in Francis these past 12 years. He has shaped so much who we are as a community of faith. In the Synod on Synodality, he made us a listening church, bringing the margins to the center. With a theology of accompaniment and encounter, he showed us particular care for migrants and refugees, ecological justice, and welcome of our LGBTQ family. He was our first pope from Latin America, moved deeply by liberation theologies, welcomed interfaith dialogue, and, just like us, reveled in the illuminations of the Saint John’s Bible. His special delight for youth will continue to inspire our ministry! He made our church welcoming. May he live in each of us and in our continued witness to the Gospel Margaret Nuzzolese Conway, SJU Campus Ministry
I give thanks for the life and ministry of Pope Francis. His prophetic voice and pastoral heart have left an indelible mark on the Church and on me. May he rest now in the peace of the Good Shepherd he served so faithfully. Abbot Douglas Mullin, OSB
What’s in a name? In the case of Pope Francis quite a bit. Pope Francis lived into his name through his care for creation, concern for the poor and the marginalized, desire for peace, and commitment to dialogue and so to listening. There is a maxim attributed to St. Francis—Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words. To so many outside the Church and church, Pope Francis’s action made intelligible the good news. Like a good Jesuit, he knew, “love is shown more in deeds than in words.”Dr. Chris Conway, Theology & Jay Philips Center for Interfaith Learning and Dialogue
How do you sum up the legacy of Pope Francis?
The first Latin American pope and the first to take the name of Francis of Assisi, he will be remembered—for me—for his deep accompaniment of those on the margins: refugees, the incarcerated, the poor, the victims of abuse, the forgotten. He consistently called the Church to a way of being rooted in justice, dignity, compassion, and solidarity with those the world too often casts aside.
In a time marked by nationalism, fear-driven rhetoric, and policies that criminalize the vulnerable, Francis offered a radically different moral vision. He named the structures of sin that wound our world: racism, environmental destruction, the rejection of migrants, unchecked capitalism and tyranny, war, and the global arms trade.
But he didn’t just speak these truths, he lived them. He traveled to Lampedusa to mourn migrants lost at sea. He washed the feet of incarcerated people. He called the Catholic Church in Gaza every night at 7 p.m. These weren’t symbolic gestures—they were acts of presence and conviction. Signs of a faith that refuses to look away.
Again and again, he urged Christians to resist indifference and respond to suffering with love, courage, and action.
He reminded us that faith is not just what we believe, but how we are called to live and with whom we are called to stand.
“It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help. If I say I am Christian, but do these things, I’m a hypocrite.”
—Pope Francis
Laura Taylor, Theology & Center for Teaching and Learning
One of the far-reaching changes of Pope Francis is a new program of priestly training which emphasizes human formation. The interesting piece is that it follows the models used by religious orders. Of course, Pope Francis was a Jesuit, and so it reflects his ethos. In addition, here at Saint John’s, there was very little we had to change, because our seminary program has stressed human formation for over sixty years! Fr. Michael Patella, OSB
Loving God,
we give you thanks for the life and ministry of Pope Francis.
In him you gave us a man of humility,
one who valued listening to the voices of the voiceless,
compassion for the undervalued,
mercy for sinners and justice for the oppressed.
You gave us a pastor
who led through the example of his love
for your people and your creation,
who was not ashamed to smell like his sheep.
Comfort all who mourn his passing,
and may the angels now lead him to paradise with you
to rest in your peace for eternity.
May your Spirit guide the future successor to your servant Francis
to continue the work you have begun through him,
for the good of the Church and the world.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
© Give Us This Day, Liturgical Press, 2025.
