Monday’s mass at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford was dedicated to Pope Francis.
“He is in eternal life, this is life on earth, but he is in eternal life,” Mary Eudy, of New Britain, said.
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WATCH HERE“I think I am going to miss his sense of humor, when I read articles about him, he seemed like a very cordial man. He was from South America, he brought a different spin to the papacy,” Halene Fusco, of West Hartford, said.
Pope Francis died Monday morning at the age of 88 after battling a number of health issues over recent years. Archbishop of Hartford Christopher J. Coyne saw Francis last year.
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SIGN UP “I was able to go to Rome to receive this pallium as a sign of my office as Archbishop in St. Peters, even at that time he was very frail, he wasn’t able to offer the mass, but he did offer prayers,” Coyne said. “I was able to receive it [the pallium] from him, shake his hand, and he offered a few words of encouragement.”
Francis was the first Pope from the Americas. He is being remembered by parishioners and faith leaders for his compassion and humanity.
“John Paul ll was very human, too, but Pope Francis was human in a completely different way. I think in a Latino kind of way, coming from Argentina and being so much part of South American culture,” Coyne said.
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“He was very humble and he was in tune with the people,” Eudy said.
Since taking over the papacy in 2013, Francis led a more liberal course, reaching out to the LGBTQ+ community and marginalized people.
“Sometimes you have to take the more difficult path and be a good leader, and I felt he was,” Fusco said.
As for his legacy, Coyne said the leader of the Roman Catholic church left his mark for years to come.
“He named cardinals from the places that had never been on the map before and so the diversity of the church is now found in the college of cardinals, and I think it's going to play an interesting role in who our next pope is,” Coyne said.
