Campuses honor late Pope Francis

At 7:37 a.m. (12:37 a.m. local time) on April 21, Pope Francis died from a stroke after a prolonged decline in health. Catholics across the world are mourning the loss of this prominent religious leader, including within the community at CSB+SJU.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as the 266th Pope in 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI resigned. He was the first Latin-American and Jesuit pope and the first to choose the name of St. Francis of Assisi in accordance with the symbolic papal tradition of changing one’s name. His successor will be chosen through a papal conclave that is scheduled to begin on May 7.

Various worship events honoring Francis’s life have taken place at CSB+SJU over the last week and a half, including candlelight vigils, masses and prayer services on both campuses.

Fr. Nicholas Becker, OSB, said that he has a strong personal experience connected to Francis’s election to the papacy.

“I did have the privilege of living in Rome when he was elected pope in 2013. I was in St. Peter’s square when he was introduced to the world as the pope. I was sad when he passed, he was a sincerely good and authentic person,” Becker said.

Francis was considered by many to be a progressive pope, one who spoke out frequently on ceasing war, protecting the environment and advocating for immigrants. In his 2025 Easter Message, given less than 24 hours before his death, he spoke about the war-torn state of several countries worldwide.

“There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others,” Francis said. “May the principle of humanity never fail to be the hallmark of our daily actions. In the face of the cruelty of conflicts that involve defenceless civilians and attack schools, hospitals and humanitarian workers, we cannot allow ourselves to forget that it is not targets that are struck, but persons, each possessed of a soul and human dignity.”

Following Benedict’s traditional conservative approach to Roman Catholicism, Francis steered the church in a new direction, seeking to open it up to modern issues. He adopted a more accepting tone towards LGBTQ+ topics compared to his predecessors, worked to better relations with Muslim faith leaders and adopted new rules to try and combat the clerical sexual abuse crisis within the Catholic Church. While his reforms were sometimes met with criticism from different factions of the church for either being “too progressive” or “not progressive enough,” under his papacy the church was led down a distinctly different path compared to other contemporary popes. Francis lived humbly, opting to stay in a Vatican guesthouse rather than the customary papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace — he was the first pope in 110 years to do so. Often called the “people’s pope,” Francis traveled widely during his time in the papacy, even throughout his final years of declining health, to visit places that he believed were often overlooked.

CSB junior Sophia Gaston is Lutheran but said that she believed Francis’s impact went beyond just the Catholic community.

“I was sad to hear that the pope died, but I know that he left a legacy of being a pope for all people, not just Catholics. I felt like he really brought the Christian community together, especially through his advocacy for the marginalized and the poor,” Gaston said.

CSB Campus Ministry Director Cindy Gonzalez said that Francis’s influence will be missed in the Catholic Church. She said it was his determination and empathy that made him so beloved.

“There is grief in knowing that Pope Francis was such a ray of light and hope. I felt like I knew him personally and he knew me back. I hope that whoever comes next is gentle, caring and ready for the great needs that exist in our church right now,” Gonzalez said.