A Letter from Archbishop Guy Desrochers on the passing of the Holy Father

Our Holy Father has left us!

Dear faithful, dear confreres and members of our clergy, dear religious men and women of our archdiocese, it was with sadness that we learned of the sudden death of our Holy Father Francis this past Monday morning, 21 April 2025. His pontificate lasted just over 12 years, having been elected Pope on 13 March 2013, and he leaves us at the venerable age of 88.

I was appointed a bishop by Pope Francis in 2019 and have had the chance to meet him personally twice since then: the first time, at the end of my formation as a novice bishop in Rome in 2019, and the second time at the end of June 2024, at the celebration of the conferring of palliums on all the archbishops of the world, held in the magnificent Basilica of St Peter in Rome.

First of all, I would describe Pope Francis as a very humble, unassuming man, brimming with compassion for the poorest among us, and an ardent promoter of truth and social and environmental justice. He was, however, a man of strong character, for nothing stopped him from speaking the truth out loud, regardless of

the social status of the person he met. This is a particular personality trait that we find in most of the great leaders who have marked our human history. But in the case of Pope Francis, this personality trait has enabled him to pursue a relentless struggle to try to reform our Church from within and without, whether on a pastoral, moral or administrative level. And it's fair to say that he has been fairly successful in most of his reforms, despite the resistance and opposition that have stood in his way.

The main legacy of the Holy Father will undoubtedly be that all the baptised are part of the great universal Church. Whether we are poor or rich, disabled or sick, immigrants or resident citizens, marginalised or public figures, practising or non-practising, believers or non-believers, we are all children of the one God who

created us in his likeness and who invites us to enter into an intimate relationship with him, through his Son who gave himself up for us on the Cross.

A man of action, not just words, he dared to go to the outskirts himself to bring back the lost sheep. A champion of ecumenism, he dared to approach Islam and the Arab world, travelling to countries where no pope had gone before. He was also a great defender of immigrants and refugees from all over the world. The fact that he sometimes provoked controversy or opposition from certain groups or factions within the Church would never have happened if he had been content to talk without taking action. This is another feature that characterised the Holy Father Francis: he was not only a communicator and an excellent homilist that even the simplest person could understand, but also an ‘activist’ who dared to get his feet wet by involving himself in what he openly preached.

Finally, the impact of his encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ will undoubtedly be his greatest legacy to the universal Church and to the whole world. Safeguarding our common home - integral ecology - has succeeded in rallying the entire planet, even non-believers and people far removed from the Church, to unite and work together actively to preserve our planet, a gift that God has given mankind by entrusting him with its stewardship.

Dear friends, let us pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, who has just left us this week. May the Lord open wide the gates of his Kingdom to him, and may he possess as soon as possible the eternal glory that God reserves for all those who have served him generously during their lives.

May the soul of our Holy Father Francis and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace, through the mercy of God, Amen.

Mgr Guy Desrochers, C.Ss.R.