For Immediate Release:
April 21, 2025
Contact: Christian Kendzierski
Tel. 410-547-5378
christian.kendzierski@archbalt.org
Statement from Archbishop William Lori on the Death of Pope Francis
“I learned this morning with great sadness of the death of Pope Francis. 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. May his great soul rest in peace.
Throughout the years of his pontificate, Pope Francis manifested his love for the poor and marginalized. He lifted up the plight of migrants and refugees, victims of injustice, the sick and elderly, and global poverty. He elevated the voice of the Church in places considered “remote” in major population centers. He called for the protection of the environment as God’s gift and as humanity’s common home. In that context, he wrote on the “integral ecology” of the human person, an insightful defense of human dignity. In an age of polarization, he called for a more fraternal society and “a new kind of politics”. Pope Francis also made “synodality” a hallmark of his papacy, urging the Church to listen with understanding and compassion to the voice of its people, including those who often feel excluded.
Pope Francis challenged dioceses, parishes, and other church communities to undergo what he called “a missionary conversion” – to be centers of missionary activity intent on fulfilling the Lord’s mandate to spread the Gospel. I have attempted to capture for our local church of Baltimore the spirit and content of his exhortations in three pastoral letters all with the title “A Light Brightly Visible”.
His devotional writings, such as his recent letter on the Sacred Heart, are beautiful and inspiring. His designation of 2025 as a Jubilee of Hope, a special Holy Year focused on the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus, was a much needed tonic for Church and world.
I was privileged to visit with Pope Francis on various occasions, often accompanying the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus to his private audiences with the Pope, in my capacity as Vice-President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, and during the Synod of Bishops last October. On one occasion, seminarians from the Archdiocese of Baltimore presented Pope Francis, an avid sports fan, with a Ravens jersey.
Pope Francis goes home to God just as the Church celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, his victory over sin and death. In the coming days, I shall offer a Mass for the Holy Father and it is my plan to attend his funeral. 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.”