'Pope Francis was before all else, a pastor' -Bishop Deenihan

Mass for Pontiff to be celebrated in Mullingar Cathedral next Tuesday

The announcement of the death of the Holy Father on Easter Monday morning was a cause of sadness and shock, given his appearances over the past few days during the various ceremonies, Bishop Tom Deenihan, Bishop of Meath, said today.

"At this time, I join with the priests, religious and people of the Diocese of Meath in praying for his soul, confident that the God of Mercy will welcome this faithful servant.

"Like many others, I watched the news of Pope Francis election on TV twelve years ago and there was much commentary on the Pope that came from the ‘Ends of the world’ and what type of papacy was in store. It became immediately clear that this would be a different papacy. Even the name Francis indicated a desire to put the poor, the marginalised, fraternity and ‘Sister Earth’ at the centre. Looking back now and reflecting on Pope Francis’ time as Pontiff, his choice of name was, in itself, a manifesto that he successfully lived up to."

Many of the tributes written in the past hours emphasise his humility, compassion and courage, the bishop continued.

"Humility came to the fore in rejecting many of the Papal vestments and the Apostolic Palace itself. One of my earliest memories of him as Pope was of his return to the guesthouse in Rome where he stayed before the conclave to pay his bill. I think that he may have felt to some extent imprisoned in the Vatican - his trips to a music shop near the Pantheon to select some CDs, his trips to an optician near the Spanish Steps to get new glasses and his various trips to prisons, hospitals and parishes give a sense of a man who wished to be among the people. Pope Francis was before all else a pastor.

"Being a Pastor informed many of the quotes that he is best remembered for, including ‘Who am I to judge’. Above all, he was a prophet of mercy. Mercy, he said, was the ‘air that we breath’. That sense of mercy was also communicated to the Confessors in Saint Peter’s recently when he told them not to ask questions, to say they understood even if they did not and to grant absolution. The confession box was, he said, not to be a torture chamber! In 2014 he said that God forgives not with a decree but with a caress. It was interesting that he publicly professed his own devotion to the sacrament of reconciliation frequently, even going to a confessor in Saint Peter’s after being released from hospital recently. As well as advocating mercy, he also championed the virtue of joy. Christians, he said, should not look like people coming from a funeral!

Perhaps less commented on is the simple holiness of Pope Francis. Which of us were not moved in the early days of the COVID pandemic when he appeared in an empty and wet Saint Peter’s Square holding the Monstrance in the shadow of the Icon of Mary from Saint Mary Major’s Basilica that Romans have great devotion to and the Cross from the Church of Saint Marcello that Romans, since 1519, believe could save the city from fire and plague? The only acknowledgement of his presence in that empty and wet Square was a police car outside that turned on its siren. He was, essentially, the world’s priest interceding for his people. That will be one of my stronger and more moving memories of him.

"Similarly, his devotion to the sleeping Saint Joseph whom he could entrust problems to, to Mary under the title of the undoer of knots and to the icon of Mary, salvific health of the Roman peoples, which he visited in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major before and after his many pilgrimages portray a man of deep and simple faith. That strong and devotional faith was an important part of the man. Indeed, any time that I met him, he would always ask for prayers.

"His embracing of the synodal path and his call to Catholics to ‘enlarge their tent’ is also an important catch cry for our time. Pope Francis could remain friendly with those whom he disagreed with and could keep conversations going. I was reminded of that when I heard an Irish politician say at the time of the General Election here that we need to learn to disagree with each other respectfully. In a time of social media and cancel culture, it is a valuable lesson."

Bishop Deenihan was one of the Irish Bishops that Francis appointed during his pontificate.

"His addresses to bishops always emphasised that role of pastor. ‘The smell of the sheep’ and the church being ‘a field hospital’ are two strong images of his that will, I believe and hope, endure."

"He also faced difficult challenges. The issue of dealing with child abuse continued in his papacy and his demands on bishops and superiors were clearly outlined in Vos est Lux Mundi. Failures in dealing with those complaints would, and have, result in deprivation of office. Indeed, that issue arose again during his visit here in August 2018 and saw him seeking forgiveness for the churches failings during the Mass in the Phoenix Park. I think that he was always mindful of the burden that accompanied his election, hence the regular call to ‘pray for me’.

"There was something appropriate in his passing on Easter Monday. The Church celebrating the Resurrection and a drive through Saint Peter’s Square the day before to give the blessing to the church, the city and the world and him greeting the people of the world who saw him as a father, an inspiration and a man of holiness.

"As we mourn him, may we be mindful of his challenge to us to care for the marginalised, the poor, our common home, the need to see beyond our own reality, the need to enlarge our tent and the call to holiness and the joy of the gospel.

At the funeral of Pope Benedict in January 2023, Francis said that ‘Like the Master, the shepherd bears the burden of interceding and anointing his people , especially in the situations where goodness must struggle to prevail and the dignity of our brothers and sisters is threatened’.

Pope Francis certainly undertook that office of shepherd and was continually praying for peace in the Ukraine, Gaza and other places, all too many, where ordinary people found their lives upended by conflict. I think of the parish priest in Gaza that he rang nightly, even on Holy Saturday. They surely feel a great loss today.

"We pray, as he ended that funeral homily, ‘faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice now and forever’.

"I commend the Soul of Pope Francis to the Priests and People of the Diocese of Meath and ask that prayers be included in all Masses in the Diocese during the Novendiales, the nine day period of mourning a Pope. A Mass will be offered for the repose of Pope Francis in the Cathedral in Mullingar at 7.30pm on Tuesday 29th April."

President Michael D Higgins on the death of Pope Francis

“Mar Uachatarán na hÉireann, as President of Ireland, may I join with all those across the world, from their different stations in life, who have expressed such profound sadness on learning of the death of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis, in his important messages and in the presentation of his Papacy with a unique humility, sought to show in the most striking and moving of ways the extraordinary importance of the spiritual as a powerful source of global ethics in the challenges of contemporary life.

On the vital issues of our time - such as global hunger and poverty, of climate change and justice, of the plight of migrants and indigenous peoples, of the dispossessed, of the fundamental necessity of global peace and diplomacy - Pope Francis' voice constituted a consistent invocation of a shared humanity that is represented by acknowledgement of the essential dignity of each human person.

For example, in Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical in 2015, he called upon us all to face the urgent challenge of protecting our common home, to accept the challenge of bringing the whole human family together in cooperative search of a sustainable and integral form of living.

These issues I had the privilege of discussing at length with Pope Francis across our five meetings over the course of his Papacy.

Pope Francis’ last visit to Ireland was as part of the World Meeting of Families in 2018. I was pleased on that occasion to welcome Pope Francis to Áras an Uachtaráin, where we continued the discussions which we had begun upon his Installation in 2013 and in the Vatican in 2017, and subsequently continued in our further discussions there in 2021 and 2023. The warmth and encouragement offered by Pope Francis was greatly valued by Sabina and myself.

During his visit to Ireland, Pope Francis spoke of the scandal of child abuse, including in the Church, and its consequences for victims and families. On such matters, and on others such as attitudes towards women and those of the LGBTQ+ community within the Church, Pope Francis sought to play a positive role. I recall at the end of our meetings he would say as to his work on such issues, ‘it is very difficult’, as he asked for and offered prayers. It is important that the steps he took are built upon as they constitute a source of hope in the years to come.

In paying tribute to Pope Francis' legacy, may we all reflect on the ethical approach that is necessary to tackle the many vital issues, including the serious danger of what he termed ‘the globalisation of indifference’, to which he drew the attention of office holders and their publics.

There was a warmth to Pope Francis and an abolition of any distance between himself and those with whom he was engaged. In reflecting on his Papacy, I think of Pope Francis' own words in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti with regard to Francis of Assisi, after whom he chose his name:

“Francis felt himself a brother to the sun, the sea and the wind, yet he knew that he was even closer to those of his own flesh. Wherever he went, he sowed seeds of peace and walked alongside the poor, the abandoned, the infirm and the outcast, the least of his brothers and sisters.”

May I express my deepest sympathies to the Apostolic Nuncio, to Archbishop Eamon Martin and all Religious in Ireland, to members of the Catholic faith throughout Ireland and across the world, to all those who will particularly feel his loss in his native Argentina and across South and Central America, and to all those of all faiths and none who were so inspired by his life and work.”

Solemn Mass for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis to be celebrated in Dublin

A Solemn Mass will be celebrated at Saint Mary's Pro Cathedral on Malborough Street, Dublin, for the happy repose of the soul of His Holiness, Pope Francis, this Friday, 25th April, at 10.30am. The principal celebrant for this Mass will be Archbishop Montemayor, the Papal Nuncio, and the homilist will be Bishop Paul Dempsey, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin.

A Book of Condolence is open at the Apostolic Nunciature at 183 Navan Road, Dublin D07 CT98, where it can be signed from today, on Wednesday and on Thursday of this week, 10am - 12.30pm and 3pm-5pm.

Messages of condolences may also be sent to the Apostolic Nunciature in Dublin using this email address: popefrancisbookofcondolences@gmail.com