Archbishop Vásquez, Cardinal DiNardo laud life and legacy of Pope Francis

United with Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, the priests, deacons, men and women religious, and lay faithful of the Archdiocese, Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez said he was “deeply saddened” at the death of Pope Francis in an April 21 statement. Pope Francis named him archbishop of Galveston-Houston on Jan. 20.

“Pope Francis’ life and ministry centered on walking alongside the poor and marginalized, sharing the life-affirming message of the Gospel not only with them but also through them to the entire Church,” said Archbishop Vásquez. “His deep commitment to supporting all individuals in their happiness and struggles will leave a profound and enduring influence on the Church as it embarks on its continued pilgrimage of faith, hope and charity.”

“As pilgrims of hope, we take solace during this Easter season in the resurrection of Our Lord,” he said. “Let us offer our prayers for His Holiness, Pope Francis, through the intercession of the Blessed Mother. May the Lord embrace him in His merciful arms.”

As a member of the Sacred College of Cardinals, Cardinal DiNardo served as a cardinal elector in the 2013 Papal Conclave that saw the election of Pope Francis on March 13, 2013.

“The life and ministry of Pope Francis was marked by walking with the poor, and those on the margins of society, to bring the life-giving message of the Gospel to them, and through them, to the whole Church,” said Cardinal DiNardo in a statement.

“His intense focus on accompanying all men and women of goodwill in their joys and sorrows will continue to have a lasting impact on the Church as she continues her own pilgrim journey of faith,” he said. 

At an April 21 Mass for Easter Monday presided over by Archbishop Vásquez, Cardinal DiNardo said in his homily that Pope Francis was a “rhapsody” of surprises in the Church. 

“A rhapsody is filled with syncopations, surprises; you never know what the next theme is going to be,” he said. “That was Pope Francis, and I think he loved to do that. It was not only once but at least three or four times that he told Christians to make a mess and to do so with joy.”

“The mercy of God is one of the major hallmarks of Pope Francis,” he continued. “The mercy of God was always on his lips; it was always geared towards those around him.” 

Cardinal DiNardo also asked for prayers for himself as he prepared to head to Rome for the May 7 conclave. He also concelebrated the April 26 Requiem Mass for Pope Francis with the rest of the College of Cardinals. 

Pope Francis gave new energy to millions of Catholics as he transformed the image of the papacy into a pastoral ministry based on personal encounters and strong convictions about poverty, mission and dialogue.

Kevin Cardinal Farrell, chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, announced that Pope Francis had died the morning of April 21.

“His whole life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church,” Cardinal Farrell said in a video announcement broadcast from the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lived.

His gestures — from tenderly embracing the sick to repeatedly visiting prisoners — touched millions of hearts. But controversy raged over his denunciations of the excesses of unbridled capitalism, his warnings about the human contributions to climate change and his insistence on accompanying, not judging, gay people.

With bronchitis and difficulty breathing, Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14. He was diagnosed with double pneumonia and a complex infection. He had returned to the Vatican March 23 to continue his recovery.

God’s mercy was a constant theme in Pope Francis’ preaching and was so central to his vision of what the Church’s ministry must embody that he proclaimed an extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy from Dec. 8, 2015 to Nov. 20, 2016.

Pope Francis was the first pope in history to come from the Southern Hemisphere, the first non-European to be elected in almost 1,300 years and the first Jesuit to serve as successor to St. Peter.

In the first three years of his papacy, he published three major documents: “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), a detailed vision of the program for his papacy and his vision for the Church — particularly the Church’s outreach and its response to challenges posed by secular culture; “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” on the environment; and “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), his reflections on the discussions of the synods of bishops on the family in 2014 and 2015.

Holiness was the topic of his March 2018 apostolic exhortation, “Gaudete et Exsultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad”), in which he insisted being holy is not boring or impossible and that it grows through small, daily gestures and acts of loving-kindness.

Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Pope Francis was an untiring voice for peace, urging an end to armed conflict, supporting dialogue and encouraging reconciliation. The pope described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “madness” and called on the world’s bishops to join him in consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

When Hamas militants attacked communities in Israel, killing scores of people and taking more than 200 people hostage in late 2023, and Israel retaliated by attacking Gaza, Pope Francis made repeated appeals for the return of hostages, a ceasefire to deliver humanitarian aid and a real commitment to a negotiated peace.

Promoting peace, solidarity and respect for the Earth, the pope insisted people needed to recognize each other as brothers and sisters and issued an encyclical about that: “Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship.” He signed the text at the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi on the saint’s feast day, Oct. 4, 2020.

Pope Francis spent much of the first nine years of his pontificate pursuing two ambitious projects: revitalizing the Church’s efforts at evangelization — constantly urging outreach rather than a preoccupation with internal Church affairs — and reforming the central administration of the Vatican, emphasizing its role of assisting bishops around the world rather than dictating policy to them.

On March 19, 2022, the ninth anniversary of the inauguration of his papacy, he finally promulgated “Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”), his complete restructuring of the Roma Curia, highlighting its mission to serve the Church’s evangelization efforts at all levels.

His simple lifestyle, which included his decision not to live in the Apostolic Palace and his choice of riding around Rome in a small Fiat or Ford instead of a Mercedes sedan, sent a message of austerity to Vatican officials and clergy throughout the Church. He reinforced the message with frequent admonitions about the Gospel demands and evangelical witness of poverty and simplicity.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital city, Dec. 17, 1936. He earned a chemical technician’s diploma from his high school and entered the Jesuit novitiate in March 1958. After studying liberal arts in Santiago, Chile, he returned to Argentina and earned his licentiate in philosophy from the Colegio San Jose in San Miguel.

He was ordained a priest Dec. 13, 1969, and after his perpetual profession as a Jesuit in 1973, he became master of novices at the Seminary of Villa Barilari in San Miguel. Later that same year, he was appointed superior of the Jesuit province of Argentina, a role in which, by his own account, he proved a divisive figure because of an “authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions.”

In May 1992, Father Bergoglio was named an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. He was appointed coadjutor archbishop five years later and became archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998; St. John Paul II named him to the College of Cardinals in 2001.

As leader of an archdiocese with more than 2.5 million Catholics, Cardinal Bergoglio strove to be close to the people. He rode the bus, visited the poor, lived in a simple apartment and cooked his own meals. He was elected pope on March 13, 2013.

When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio had said he always tried to avoid traveling “because I’m a homebody.”

As Pope Francis, he was anything but.

In his 12 years as head of the universal Church, Pope Francis took 47 trips abroad, visiting more than 65 countries and covering more than 270,000 miles, which is equivalent to 11 times around the Earth.

His diminishing physical abilities did not stop him from taking the longest trip of his papacy in September 2024. His final trip was to the Mediterranean island of Corsica, just two days before his 88th birthday.

Many of his international trips were to countries where Christians are a minority or where he could draw close to people on the fringes of the world’s attention.

Even in countries where it is typical for popes to visit, Pope Francis’ choice of activities was sometimes surprising and showed his desire to stay close to marginalized people and those who suffer.

During his apostolic visit to the U.S. in 2015, the pope received a regal welcome. He met with President Barack Obama at the White House and became the first pope to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. Yet immediately following the historic moment, he ate lunch with homeless people at a local parish. In Philadelphia, he visited a maximum-security prison before celebrating Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Other trips have seen the pope visit homes for the elderly, hospitals and refugee camps, including what had been the largest camp in Europe: in Lesbos, Greece. He took 12 refugees back to Rome with him after a visit in 2016 and, five years later, visited again and criticized world leaders for an “indifference that kills.”

Pope Francis visited some of the poorest countries in the world, such as Mozambique and Madagascar in 2019 and Congo and South Sudan in 2023.

In countries experiencing war, he pleaded for peace as he did during a visit to the Central African Republic in 2015, and in nations recovering from conflict, he promoted reconciliation as he did in Iraq in 2021.

He took part in four World Youth Days, with the 2013 gathering in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, being the first foreign journey of his pontificate. He went to Kraków, Poland, in 2016; Panama City, Panama, in 2019; and Lisbon, Portugal, in 2023, after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the event in 2021.

From the moment of his election, Pope Francis made clear from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica that his first mandate was to serve as bishop of Rome and be close with the people.

“We take up this journey: the bishop and the people,” he said before delivering his first blessing, “urbi et orbi” (to the city and to the world). “Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world that there may be a great spirit of fraternity.”

In what would be his final public appearance before his death, the pope gave his last “urbi et rbi” blessing, urging world peace. More surprisingly, the convalescent pope boarded his popemobile one last time to greet the thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

Following his March 23 release from the hospital, doctors ordered the pope to begin a two-month period of recovery at the Vatican. Yet, upon leaving the hospital, he couldn’t help but make a detour to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, which houses the Marian icon the pope would often pray to. Unable to enter the basilica, the pope left a bouquet of flowers for Rolandas Cardinal Makrickas, coadjutor archpriest of St. Mary Major, to place in front of the Marian icon.

The icon, named “Salus Populi Romani” (“Health of the Roman people”), is where the pope would pray before and after every international trip, as well any notable event, such as when he was released from the hospital in 2021 after undergoing intestinal surgery.

Although he kept to his prescribed recovery and was not seen in public, two weeks after his release from the hospital, the pope made a surprise appearance at the end of the closing Mass for the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers.

Straining his voice, the pope wished the faithful: “A happy Sunday to all of you, many thanks!”

On April 9, he met privately with King Charles and Queen Camilla. The Vatican announced that the meeting took place despite the fact that it was originally postponed due to the pope’s frail health.

However, on April 10, the day after his visit with the royals, the pontiff took many by surprise when he appeared in St. Peter’s Basilica clad in a simple white shirt, black trousers and a blanket. According to the Vatican, the pope went to view the ongoing restoration work at the basilica, as well as to pray at the tomb of St. Pius X.

He also spent several minutes greeting shocked tourists and pilgrims at the basilica.

No one will know whether Pope Francis knew his time was coming to an end. Although his health was frail, his voice in his few public appearances, while strained, seemed much stronger.

On April 12, on the eve of Palm Sunday, the pope visited the Basilica of St. Mary Major for what would become his last time praying before the Marian icon to which he was so devoted.

It is near the icon where the pope was laid to rest, as per his wishes. In his autobiography, “Hope,” the pope said he wanted to be buried near the icon.

“The Vatican is the home of my last service, not my eternal home. I will go in the room where they now keep the candelabra, close to the Regina della Pace (Queen of Peace) from whom I have always sought help and whose embrace I have felt more than a hundred times during the course of my papacy,” he wrote.

The following day, on Palm Sunday, the pope made an appearance at the end of the Mass in St. Peter’s Square. 

On April 16, he met with healthcare workers and medical staff who took care of him during his long hospitalization.

The pope did not allow his illness to get in the way of his customary visits to a detention facility on Holy Thursday, April 17. Meeting with some 70 inmates at Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, the pope noted that “every year I like to do what Jesus did on Holy Thursday, washing feet in a prison.”

“This year, I cannot do it, but I can and want to be close to you. I pray for you and your families,” he said.

Upon leaving the prison, the pope’s car stopped near a group of journalists. Speaking about his visit to the prison, he said: “Every time I enter these doors, I ask myself, ‘Why them and not me?’”

On Good Friday, he was unable to join pilgrims at the Colosseum, but in his reflections, he enclosed a farewell message to the world: Jesus came to change the world and, “for us, that means changing direction, seeing the goodness of your path, letting the memory of your glance transform our hearts,” he wrote in the introduction to the commentaries and prayers.

Not long after, the pope made his way to the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica for what would be his final “urbi et orbi” blessing. Straining his voice and barely able to raise his hands in blessing, the appreciative throng of pilgrims applauded, even more so when he boarded his popemobile to greet them one last time.

On his final day of earthly life, Pope Francis ended his pontificate as he began it more than 12 years ago, upon his election: embarking on the journey of a bishop with his people. †