VATICAN CITY (VATICAN CITY)
Boston Globe
April 21, 2025
By Brian MacQuarrie
The death of Pope Francis, 88, after a long illness Monday prompted an outpouring of condolences from church and civic leaders across the region, as well as admiration among the Catholic laity for the Argentinian pontiff’s humility, simplicity, and advocacy for the most vulnerable.
From a Natick church service, where Boston Archbishop Richard Henning mourned the pope’s passing, to Boston City Hall and the state’s congressional delegation, Francis was recalled as a cleric who had championed the causes of the impoverished and persecuted, while prodding the secretive bureaucracy of the Roman Catholic Church to discuss reforms more openly.
At the foot of the altar in St. Patrick’s in Natick stood a gold-framed photo of the pontiff, surrounded by arrangements of lilies, hydrangeas, and daffodils laid out for the Easter season. The pope, a Jesuit who was elected to the papacy in 2013, died a day after appearing in a wheelchair on Easter Sunday to bless a large crowd assembled in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
Among those in the pews Monday at St. Patrick’s was Donna McKenzie, a Natick native and theologian who rushed to Mass after hearing the news. The pope, the first from Latin America, had been hospitalized for five weeks with a life-threatening case of double pneumonia but had battled back and returned to the Vatican.
McKenzie said her religious education made Francis’ papacy especially meaningful to her.
“He was not as progressive as I wanted him to be — I would have wanted him to ordain women yesterday — but I love him dearly for the changes he was able to make,” she said.
After the conservative reign of Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned in 2013, Francis adopted a more progressive tone. The new pope made the church a more welcoming place for LGBTQ worshippers, encouraged priests to form closer connections with parishioners, and transformed the College of Cardinals by elevating clerics from underrepresented regions and reducing the influence of its conservative wing.
He also made strides to strengthen the church’s response to sexual abuse accusations against Catholic priests. Yet, many parishioners believe he did not go far enough in reforming the church and increasing accountability and transparency for abusive priests.
Francis’ death comes at an unsettling time for the Catholic Church, with attendance declining, particularly in Western countries such as the United States. Over the next two to three weeks, a conclave of cardinals will be convened at the Vatican to elect a new pope, a decision that will determine whether the spirit of Francis’ papacy will carry on or be altered by conservative clerics.
At St. Patrick’s, Henning reflected on Francis’ legacy and its meaning.
“This is a sad day for us,” the archbishop said after the 8 a.m. Mass, just steps away from crowds gathering for the Boston Marathon, whose route passes St. Patrick’s. “Even as we mourn him, we place our trust in the Lord, and we entrust this good man to his mercy.”
The archbishop added that Francis “constantly reminds us of those that get overlooked … by the systems and the powers that be,” and praised Francis’ legacy of compassion and his calls to care for the health of “our common home,” the Earth.
The Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition said that, as the first pope from Latin America, Francis built a symbolically powerful papacy.
“It showed a shift from the dominance of Christianity in the global north and Europe to the global south in places like Africa, Asia, and Latin America,” said Salguero, who is based in Orlando, Fla.“It is a significant reflection of what’s happening in evangelicalism and Catholicism, that this is the place where Christianity is growing, and his leadership reflected that.”
At evening Mass in East Boston’s Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, a memorial portrait of the pope was at the altar — a black cloth draped over the top of the frame.
“This morning when I saw the news, I didn’t know how to react,” said Gloria Landaverde, who teaches Bible classes at the largely Spanish-speaking parish. “[But] when I came to Mass and saw his picture, that’s when it hit, I felt it” — she patted her chest, above her heart — “inside me.”
However, sharing the Mass with her fellow parishioners also brought her comfort, Landaverde said. Father Thomas Domurat guided the congregation in offering prayers for the late pope.
Sonia Salcedo, a parishioner at Most Holy Redeemer for more than 25 years, said she appreciated that Pope Francis “was the first Latino pope.”
“He represents many Latinos,” Salcedo said. “He was very inspiring to me. He didn’t only say and not show. He showed the community how to be.”
“We lost the best pope,” Salcedo added. “The most important for me.”
Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who retired as Boston’s archbishop last year, praised Francis on Monday as “a sign and source of hope for people throughout the world particularly the forgotten, the poor, the sick, and the voiceless.”
O’Malley had been appointed by the pope in 2014 to lead the newly created Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, an outgrowth of the cardinal’s work in addressing the clerical sex abuse crisis in the Boston Archdiocese.
In 2019, after the Vatican convened a global meeting on the crisis, church officials were instructed to report sexual abuse and any attempts to hide it to their superiors. The directive was made permanent in 2023, but church officials were not required to report accusations to prosecutors or law enforcement.
Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of the clerical abuse watchdog group BishopAccountability.org, said Francis could have done more on the issue.
“He was a beacon of hope to the world’s most marginalized people, but what we most needed from him was justice for the church’s own wounded,” Doyle said. “He refused to make the necessary changes. It’s a choice that had devastating consequences.”
At St. Anthony Shrine in Downtown Crossing, about 70 parishioners rose in prayer as Friar Brian Smail celebrated Mass. The worshippers included Quincy resident Michael Richard, 26, who had walked to the shrine from his downtown office to mourn Pope Francis, whose passing felt like a death in the family, he said,
”A lot of people had their issues with his papacy, but at the end of the day, he was a man who emanated love,” Richard said. “He understood the gospel. He understood Christ. He had nothing but love in his heart for all people, including non-Christians and non-Catholics.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu described Francis as a “spiritual leader, global advocate for the poor and marginalized, and a moral force in the fight for climate justice.”
“Pope Francis reminded us that caring for our planet is a sacred duty, and that true leadership is rooted in humility, compassion, and service,” Wu said. “He called on us to act boldly for future generations — and his life showed us how.”
US Senator Edward Markey, who traveled to the Vatican in 2014 and met with Pope Francis to discuss climate change, praised the pontiff for his work on that issue and others involving social justice. “He led with a vision of inclusion, compassion, and humility, calling on us to act boldly on the world’s most pressing issues,” Markey said.
Globe reporters Nikki Griswold and Dan Glaun contributed to this story along with Correspondent Nathan Metcalf