Given by Monsignor Sean Healy, Provost of the Cathedral Chapter at the Mass for Pope Francis on 22 April 2025 at Northampton Cathedral:
As we gather in the cathedral this evening to pray for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, it is something of a coincidence that the readings for this time after Easter highlight in particular the role of Peter in the early Church. And as we heard in our first reading this evening from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter, under the power of the Holy Spirit, boldly proclaims his faith in the risen Christ. And as we heard, he brings over 3,000 people into the church. Pope Francis was the 266th successor to Peter, and his mandate, perhaps more complicated, but at its heart was exactly the same as Peter’s. His mandate was to proclaim boldly the risen Christ. And in our Gospel too.
This evening, we hear how Mary Magdalene becomes a witness to the risen Christ and she is sent, we call her sometimes the Apostola Apostolorum, the apostle to the apostles. She goes to the disciples to tell them that she, too has seen the risen Lord. And as we ponder that story this evening, a story which is shrouded, too, in sadness and misunderstanding, it also helps us to remember the inclusivity which was so much part of the pontificate of Pope Francis. Each one of us, like Mary Magdalene, is called to be a witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. Each one of us is called to use those gifts and talents which God has given to us, uniquely called to use them to witness to Christ in today’s world.
And Pope Francis was so keen to remind us over and over again that we, too are called to be missionary disciples. We’re called to share the gifts God has given us, to build his church, to witness to the power of the risen Christ. Many words, of course, have already been written and spoken about the life and ministry of Pope Francis, even though it was just over 24 hours or so since he died and those last pictures of him so moving as he made the supreme effort to appear in the piazza at St. Peter’s and then, just a few short hours later, his life was over. And in that gap, already, so much has been said about him. As Bishop David himself has said, the Pope’s life was a testament to the Gospel’s call to mercy, justice and love.
What a powerful summary of the Pope’s life and ministry. But one element of his ministry, which I would like simply to mention briefly this evening, was his humility. From the very beginning of his pontificate, he sought to distance himself from the lingering trappings of papal pomp, wanting to live humbly in the Casa Santa Marta rather than the Apostolic palace, deciding not to use the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, even though it made him rather unpopular in that small town to the south of Rome. Choosing the name Francis, associating himself with Francis, the poor man of Assisi, the patron saint of nature and the poor. He wanted the church to be a field hospital where everyone could feel welcomed and experience the love and tenderness of the Christian community.
He wanted the church to be a church of the poor. And indeed, Pope Francis often spoke about the revolution of tenderness. Living our faith in such a way that we would bring others to Christ through our love, through our compassion. Again, missionary disciples, witnessing to the power of the good news, he spoke in his encyclical Laudato Si of the need for an ecological conversion, the transformation of hearts and minds towards greater love of God, each other and creation. But already I realize I’m in danger of simply adding more words to what has already been spoken and written about his powerful ministry. So let’s this evening, as we gather to pray for him, let’s keep that image of the risen Christ before us as we pray for the repose of his soul.
We pray that the risen Christ will welcome Pope Francis into the joy of heaven with those words of Matthew’s gospel. Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master. Pope Francis always had a tradition of visiting at the beginning and end of his apostolic journeys, the Basilica of St. Mary Magor’s in Rome. Indeed, we’re told he visited it 125 times. And the reason why he loved that basilica in Rome was because he prayed in front of a much venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, given the title Salus Populi Romani, the health of the Roman people. It’s an image loved by the people of Rome and which also has long connections with the Society of Jesus, the order to which Pope Francis belonged.
Perhaps that was something which drew him back to that much venerated image of Our Lady. And we’re told, of course, that the Pope’s final resting place will be very near to that image. So let us ask this evening for the prayers too, of our Blessed lady, asking for her intercession for the Church, for the cardinal electors who will choose Pope Francis successor. But above all, asking for her intercession for the repose of the soul of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Pope Francis, a humble witness to the risen Christian.
