Like Catholics in the Archdiocese of Louisville and worldwide, Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre said he’s trying to wrap his heart and mind around the reality of the pope’s death.
He spoke to members of the media at the Cathedral of the Assumption on the afternoon of April 21, hours after Pope Francis died at age 88.
Anyone who has sat with a sick and dying loved one knows that it’s one thing to know they are close to death, but “it’s a different reality when the Lord calls them home,” he said. “It’s what I’m feeling and what Catholics here and around the world are feeling.”
As Catholics mourn, the archbishop said he wants to remind them that Pope Francis was a man of great hope.
“His hope was rooted in Christ,” the archbishop said. For Catholics, hope is grounded in the belief that Jesus is present in every situation, he noted.
“I’m positive the Lord was with Pope Francis” at the time of his death, said Archbishop Fabre. “The bonds that unite us in life do not unravel in death. As we mourn, let’s remember the great example he gave us.”
Pope Francis was a “great pastor,” the archbishop also noted.
“His writings read as a pastor who is reaching out to his flock,” recalling the image of the Good Shepherd seeking out his lost sheep, he said.
The two times he met Pope Francis, he felt the pontiff’s “great warmth,” he added. “He was a man of great warmth, a man of humor, a man who clearly knew who he was, and very humble.”
The archbishop said he also felt a union and a sense of collegiality — that the pope was a brother who understood what it’s like to have a great sense of responsibility for others because great responsibility was given to him.
When asked about the pope’s legacy, the archbishop said, “He encouraged us to encounter one another and discover the gift” in one another regardless of differences. Non-Catholics were drawn to the pope because of this, he noted.
He hopes that whoever the Holy Spirit guides the college of cardinals to choose next will build on Pope Francis’ legacy and recognize that “he’s to be a voice for the voiceless and remember the marginalized,” he said.
Whomever the next pope is, the archbishop said, he’ll have his support.
