MIAMI – People across the world, including in South Florida, are reminiscing on the life and legacy of Pope Francis after the pontiff died early Monday at age 88.
“His legacy will be defined by a series of ‘firsts’: the first Jesuit Pope, the first Pope from the Americas, the first Pope to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, the first Pope to appoint women to high positions in the Roman curia previously held only by male prelates,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski, of the Archdiocese of Miami, said in a statement.
Wenski addressed reporters later in the morning at a press conference.
“We all woke up this morning to the news of Pope Francis’s passing to eternal life,” he said. “At 88 years old, the news is not to be unexpected, but just like when a father or grandfather dies, the news always comes as a shock.”
Wenski recounted the half-dozen times he met the pope and their discussions about South Florida.
“I remember once when I met with him in Rome shortly after he was elected as pope, I told him I was from Miami and I said, ‘The best thing about Miami is it was so close to the United States,’ and the pope really laughed at that, so he had a great sense of humor,” Wenski said.
Wenski also reflected on Pope Francis’ legacy and the reforms he made within the Catholic church over his 12-year stint in the papacy.
“He certainly put his mark on the church,” Wenski said.
Local 10 reporter Hannah Yechivi was at Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Church on West Flagler Street in Miami Monday morning where people were coming to pray at a park next to the church.
“He was a different kind of pope -- he had his different ways, always did it his way,” Ramon Sicam said.
A service was also held inside the church in Spanish for community members.
The priest addressed the death of the head of the Catholic church and highlighted some of the things he will be remembered for.
Those who spoke with Yechivi said Pope Francis re-shaped and modernized the Catholic church. He was also very big on topics like helping the less fortunate and promoting peace.
One parishioner said Francis also emphasized and advocated for the rights of migrants and refugees.
On Sunday, Vice President JD Vance had the opportunity to privately meet the pope.
According to Vatican officials, there was an exchange of opinions on difficult humanitarian situations focusing on migrants, refugees and prisoners.
WATCH: Miami archbishop holds mass in honor of Pope Francis
One churchgoer in Miami said he is very proud of the pope during Holy Week when he told the vice president he rejects the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.
“I’ve also noticed that he was a pope that shared his views and thoughts on this country, on America, and he reflected on both what this current administration is and then (what) the vice president was doing was kind of a poor job, so as far as the pope in concerned, he stood his ground,” the man who wanted to be identified only as Emmanuel said.
Known as the peoples’ pope, Yechivi asked if there is one thing that comes to mind when thinking about the pope?
“Resilience, resilience, resilience, to always do right by people and defend the weak,” Emmanuel said.
With hands up in prayer, many who went to Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Church Monday for their regular morning mass, also honored Pope Francis.
“It’s something that is going to affect all of us,” Sicam said.
“I feel like somebody close to me passed away,” another parishioner named Maria said.
Many said the pope gave up his life for the Catholic Church and at times was a loud voice for the voiceless.
The pope’s death comes a little more than two months after he was hospitalized for double pneumonia, a diagnosis that led to the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy.
A Local 10 crew traveled to Rome earlier this year after Pope Francis was initially admitted to Gemelli Hospital back on Feb. 14.
Pope Francis, who suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed when he was younger, was at first being treated for what doctors called a respiratory crisis, but we know now that eventually developed into double pneumonia.
He spent 38 days in the hospital before eventually being released in late March.
His treatment at the time included a series of oxygen therapies, alternating between high flows of oxygen and a ventimask, while also receiving respiratory physiotherapy.
The faithful showed up daily to offer prayers from outside the hospital.
The pope’s death comes after he made an appearance at Easter Mass at the Vatican.
While he didn’t lead it, he did greet members of the crowd while riding around in his open aired “Pope Mobile.”
“The pope passing during Easter week is perhaps a last lesson or instruction that he’s giving us,” Wenski said. “We believe that when we die, when we leave this Earth, life is not different for us, but it’s changed. So now Pope Francis goes to experience that new phase in his life.”
View Wenski’s full statement below:
“In Evangelii Gaudium (‘Joy of the Gospel’), Pope Francis said: I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.
“Pope Francis saw the Church as a “field hospital” called to tend to the wounded on the battle fields of life offering her medicine of mercy to all. The Church, Pope Francis insisted, is not only to teach but to act—to embrace those on the periphery and to bring the light of Christ to the darkest corners of society.
“Shortly after his election as Pope, his first visit outside of Rome was to the marooned African boat people washed ashore on the small Italian island of Lampedusa. He never tired of defending the displaced migrant nor embracing the marginalized or excluded, whether at a papal audience in St. Peter’s Square or in a prison.
“His legacy will be defined by a series of “firsts”: the first Jesuit Pope, the first Pope from the Americas, the first Pope to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, the first Pope to appoint women to high positions in the Roman curia previously held only by male prelates.
“We live, he said, not in an era of change but in the change of an era. Because scandals had undermined people’s trust in society’s institutions, whether political, academic, economical or religious, he defied the institutional “norms” of the Papal court: he carried his own valise, refused to be chauffeured in limousines, and eschewed symbols of pomp and circumstance, living not in the Apostolic Palace but in a room at the Vatican’s “hotel”. In this way, he inspired many to give the Church a second look. And perhaps he was more highly regarded by those outside the Church than by many within the Church.
“Nevertheless, his Pontificate was in continuity with those of his predecessors. If Pope Benedict XVI was the “green Pope” as the media called him for installing solar panels on the roofs of the Vatican, Pope Francis could claim to be the “greener Pope’ for his landmark encyclical on creation care, Laudato Si.
“While studying as a young Jesuit in Germany, he became acquainted with a Bavarian Marian devotion represented by a Baroque painting depicting Mary as the Untier or Undoer of Knots. The concept of Mary untying knots is derived from a work by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies). In Book III, Chapter 22, he presents a parallel between Eve and Mary, describing how “... the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, thus did the Virgin Mary set free through faith.” The then Father Bergoglio introduced this devotion to Argentina where it has spread in popularity throughout the Americas.
“Pope Francis understood the many knots that bind us in the world today because of our “throw away culture” (la cultura del descarte) and the “globalization of indifference”.
“A marble relief portrait over the gallery doors of the House Chamber in the U..S Capitol depicts Moses. Referring to this iconic image when addressing the joint session, Pope Francis said: “The figure of Moses leads us directly to God and thus to the transcendent dignity of the human being. Moses provides us with a good synthesis of your work: you are asked to protect, by means of the law, the image and likeness fashioned by God on every human face.”
“Pope Francis leaves this world as a “pilgrim of hope”. “May choirs of angels welcome you and lead you to the bosom of Abraham; and where Lazarus is poor no longer may you find eternal rest.” And may Mary, Mother of the Church and undoer of knots, set us free through faith.”