Father Joshua Roldan acknowledged the sombre mood among the congregation at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica in downtown Toronto on Monday morning, hours after the Vatican announced the death of Pope Francis.
Roldan’s Easter service paid tribute to the late leader of the Catholic church, with the pastor saying Francis, who died at 88 after battling illness for months, demonstrated how love can transform every human being.
Roldan reflected on watching TV as Francis first appeared before the world as Pope on the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican in March 2013.
“I remember that beautiful image of him kneeling before the crowd and asking us to pray for him,” Roldan said during his homily.
“It was very humbling and inspiring to see a man who was truly in love with the Lord, truly moved by the power of the resurrection and truly understanding that he too, like all of us, needs the mercy and love of God.”
Roldan’s tribute was the latest in an outpouring of support and admiration from religious leaders to politicians to the chief of police. Cardinals from around the world, including those based in Toronto, will soon head to Rome to take part in the conclave to elect the next pope.
Francis was a “global ambassador of peace, hope and love,” the Archbishop of Toronto said Monday as the city’s Catholic community woke to news of his death.
Pope Francis has died at 88. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the first pope from the Americas, was known as the ‘People’s Pope’ and ushered in a more open, welcoming Catholic Church during his 12-year papacy.
Frank Cardinal Leo, the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop of Toronto, said in a statement Francis showed “humility, compassion and care for others, most especially the poor and marginalized.”
“May we honour his legacy and lovingly embrace his invitation to be missionaries of mercy, sharing the light of Christ in abundance as we affirm the dignity of every human life and foster a culture of care and love,” Leo said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford extended his “deepest condolences” to those grieving Francis’s passing in a post on X.
“His legacy of humility, love and compassion will be forever remembered,” Ford wrote.
As Catholics here in Ontario and around the world mourn the passing of Pope Francis, I extend my deepest condolences to all who are grieving this profound loss.
His legacy of humility, love and compassion will be forever remembered.
Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw also posted his condolences on social media.
“His Holiness dedicated his life to faith, compassion, and service to others,” Demkiw said. “This is a loss for many at TPS and in the communities we serve.”
Pope will be remembered for progressive stances: bishop
The late pope’s progressive and inclusive attitude toward marginalized groups, including the 2SLGBTQ+ community, will be his legacy, a Toronto Anglican bishop said.
“From the moment that he became Pope 12 years ago, he spoke and acted in a way that showed the church and indeed the world that he intended to do things differently and be a progressive voice around lots of different issues,” said Bishop Kevin Robertson, the suffragan, or assisting, bishop in the diocese of Toronto.
In June 2013, four months after he was elected, Francis said in response to a reporter’s question, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?”
Robertson said Francis’s words were “huge” for the Roman Catholic church and also gave hope to other Christian traditions that the church “was embracing something that it hadn’t been able to embrace before.”
He said he is praying for those around the world who are grieving the Pope’s death and praying for who will be the next pontiff.
“My own hope, not surprisingly, is that [it] will be somebody who continues this progressive spirit that we saw in Pope Francis, somebody who is going to be be a champion of the poor and the marginalized… and reach across to people who have not for some time felt welcomed in the likes of the church,” he said.
Pope visited Canada to apologize for evil that happened at residential schools
During a visit to Canada in July 2022, Francis made an historic apology to Indigenous people for the involvement of the Catholic church in the residential school system.
The Catholic Church ran over half of the residential schools in Canada. More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend the government-funded schools between the 1870s and 1997.
“I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,” Francis said in Maskwacis, Alta. He would later say a genocide happened within residential schools.
The apology “was a very significant moment that I was grateful for as a Canadian,” said Darren Dias, the executive director of the Toronto School of Theology, which is affiliated with the University of Toronto.
In his final Christmas address, Francis delivered a message of peace, including a call to end warfare in Ukraine and the Middle East, particularly in Gaza.
Dias said the pontiff “was a great voice in the geopolitical world that we live in.”
“I’m grateful for that voice, but also, I thought, who will be that voice 1745247854 in these difficult times?” he said.
In Decemer, Dias briefly met Francis during a discussion about the future of theology. Francis had fallen the weekend before and had a visible bruise, but was keeping up with a “gruelling schedule,” he said.
“He sat there with a smile on his face and received us with such grace and charm,” Dias said. “I was amazed at his stamina.”
