(OSV News) – Pope Francis, who died April 21 at age 88, “will long be remembered for his outreach to those on the margins of the Church and of society,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement shared in the first hours after the pope’s death.
“He renewed for us the mission to bring the Gospel out to the ends of the earth and offer divine mercy to all. He has also taken advantage of the present Jubilee to call us to a profound hope: one that is not an empty or naïve hope, but one grounded in the promise of Almighty God to be with us always,” Archbishop Broglio wrote.
Bishops around the United States began issuing tributes to Pope Francis and his 12-year pontificate shortly after the news of his death April 21, Easter Monday.
Bishops pointed to Pope Francis’ historic and key contributions and shared their personal appreciations.
“Even with his roots in the Piedmont region of Italy, the first Pope from our American Continent was marked by his experience as a Jesuit and a shepherd in Buenos Aires. He brought that experience and vision with him to his ministry for the universal Church,” said Archbishop Broglio, who is also head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.
Nodding to the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope Pope Francis inaugurated Dec. 24, Archbishop Broglio said he last saw the pope at the Jubilee Mass for the Armed Forces, Police and Security Personnel, held at the Vatican Feb. 8-9, just days before the pope was admitted to the hospital Feb. 14.
Standing in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where a portrait of Pope Francis was flanked by lit candles alongside an empty chair draped with purple and white stoles, Cardinal Timothy P. Dolan of New York shared informal reflections on Pope Francis during a morning Mass.
“Beyond the sorrow, the sadness that we feel at the passing of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, we express our faith in the resurrection of Jesus,” he said before the Mass’ opening prayer. In his homily, he called attention to Pope Francis’ last public words being his Easter blessing.
“Yes we are sad, but we are filled with Easter joy,” Cardinal Dolan said. “When we believers are kind of a little lost and don’t know quite what to do, we always rely on prayer. Here we are, this second day of Easter, this Easter Monday, hearing the news of our Holy Father passing over. Here we are at the greatest prayer of all, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which we offer, asking the Lord’s mercy on his immortal soul, thanking God for the gift that he was to us, and asking for consolation upon God’s family.”
Washington’s new archbishop, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, said the Church and the world “have lost a true shepherd of souls, a beacon of unwavering hope, and a voice of penetrating truth. From the very first moments of his service to the universal Church, Pope Francis enshrined the mercy of God at the heart of his proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In doing so, he illuminated with new depth the pastoral dimension of the Church’s mission, which is rooted first in embracing love rather than in judgment.”
“Pope Francis’s vision of a synodal Church — the people of God journeying together, nourished by Word and Sacrament, missionary in its outreach, including all and animated by the participation of all, constantly renewing itself in the light of the Gospel,” he continued, “stands as an enduring legacy of Pope Francis in his fidelity to the Second Vatican Council and its call to preach the Gospel in the modern world.”
“May Pope Francis be with Christ!” said Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, Cardinal McElroy’s predecessor. “We commend his great soul to the Merciful Father of us all. His devoted service to Christ’s Church and to our entire world is a legacy that will endure for ages to come. He presented the compassionate face of a pastor as he exercised the Petrine Office. People felt close to him and therefore closer to our Church. May the Lord reward him for his ministry as Shepherd in the likeness of Jesus.”
Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston said that Pope Francis’ example “remains a guiding light to the Universal Church.”
“In his ministry and across his writings, he has continuously called us to deeper faith and to a more generous participation in the boundless compassion of God,” Archbishop Henning, whom Pope Francis last year appointed to succeed Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley as leader of the Boston Archdiocese, wrote in a statement.
Bishop David J. Walkowiak of Grand Rapids, Michigan, one of the first bishops Pope Francis appointed during his pontificate, said in a statement, “Like Jesus, he served those whom the world often considered outcasts. … He was a man of action, ministering to the homeless in Rome, visiting refugee camps, and washing the feet of prisoners. His pastoral heart, use of relatable language, and witness to serving people on the margins stand as an example for all people.”
In an X post, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone said Pope Francis had the “heart of a pastor.”
“A pastor always wants to be with his people,” he said, adding, “So many will miss this man.”
“Just yesterday, he greeted the crowds in Rome, as if to say farewell to the People of God whom he loved so dearly and served so devotedly,” Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said in a statement.
He said the pope’s designation of 2025 as a Jubilee of Hope “focused on the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus, was a much needed tonic for church and world. … Often the Holy Father would ask visitors to pray for him. I am sure he would want us to pray for him now that he may rest in the peace of the Risen Lord.”