Pope Francis Memorial Mass 2025

Published: April 27, 2025

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock on Sunday, April 27, 2025.

Bishop Taylor

Today we are gathered to pray for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, that God give him the reward of his goodness, and to pray for the cardinals who are about to begin the conclave that will elect his successor.

We do this on Divine Mercy Sunday and I can’t think of a more appropriate day to thank God for having given us such a faithful shepherd these last 12 years. Mercy was the hallmark of Pope Francis’ ministry.

Indeed, his episcopal motto was “Miserando Atque Eligendo” taken from St. Bede’s homily on the call of Matthew. It means “He looked upon him with mercy and chose him.” Mercy and election. These two realities are at the heart of his witness to the call of Jesus, our Savior.

I think we all cherish memories of actions Pope Francis took to drive home what Jesus’ call for our mercy means in every sector of life. His first trip after being elected pope was to Lampedusa, an Italian island receiving many refugees, his loving embrace of a man with a terribly disfigured face, his washing the feet of prison inmates on Holy Thursday. Actions that spoke volumes.

Pope Francis broke through barriers, looking for ways to shepherd the most vulnerable among us, modeling himself on Jesus the Good Shepherd.

I have personal memories of Pope Francis that gave me some insight into his character and concerns. This won’t be long. Pope Francis insisted repeatedly that homilies should not exceed eight minutes and I would hate to disappoint him in this memorial Mass. I first met him in Buenos Aires in 2010 when he was bishop there and still went by the name of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. I accompanied Father Rubén Quinteros to Argentina to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving for his ordination to the priesthood with his family.

And then we had a little time on our hands, so we came up with the idea of visiting the local bishop — whose name I didn’t even know at the time. We found his address and went to his house and rang the doorbell, not knowing what would happen. And quite surprisingly for a cardinal archbishop, he answered the door himself, welcomed us in and made small talk with us in a very simple meeting room for about 15 minutes. Nothing fancy, totally ordinary. This spoke volumes of his humility.

Another memory was from our "ad limina" visit in the year 2020. "Ad limina" visits are visits that bishops make to speak with the pope about the state of affairs in their diocese. They are supposed to take place every five years but are often postponed for various reasons — such as the illness or death of the pope.

My first "ad limina" visit was with Pope Benedict in 2012 and was very nice, but quite formal — Pope Benedict stayed behind his desk and I and the bishops of Oklahoma sat facing him and each of us delivered a short address we had prepared, and then Pope Benedict spoke in response for about 15 minutes — he was brilliant but scholarly. There was no real dialogue, it was a sharing of prepared statements. Then he pushed a button, and photographers came in and we were done.

My meeting with Pope Francis eight years later was very different and reflected his personality and his vision of synodality, his desire for a church that was more open. It was in January 2020, just before the pandemic shut everything down and included me and all the bishops of Texas and Oklahoma. There was no desk. He had us sit in a big circle and introduce ourselves.

He invited us to help ourselves to coffee and pastries on a side table and then he told us where the bathroom was. We didn’t expect that. He was very down to earth. He asked us questions and invited us to ask him questions. There were no prepared statements, instead there was a conversation with a certain amount of give and take.

His questions to us were largely about what we were doing to reach out to those on the periphery in our own dioceses and in particular the welcome we were giving to migrants and what kind of care we were giving to others who were suffering. His concern was always for the poor. The meeting lasted about two hours and I left knowing that he really was interested in what we thought.

Pope Francis enshrined his vision for the Church not only in eloquent actions that captured our imagination but also in a series of powerful documents on a wide variety of topics, especially as these topics had implications for the weak and vulnerable.

He published three encyclical letters: "Lumen Fidei" on the role of faith in the lives of Christians, "Laudato Sì" on ecology and climate change and "Fratelli Tutti" on the importance of respect for all people, and then four apostolic exhortations, two of which were "Evangelii Gaudium" calling for a renewed evangelization and "Amoris Laetitia" on the importance of love and compassion.

And of course, in addition to his teaching with words, there was also his teaching by example: like I said earlier: welcoming migrants, washing the feet of inmates, appealing for peace in countless trouble spots.

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. Let us pray for Pope Francis, that God would be merciful to him as he was to us, forgive his sins and welcome him into heaven. And let us pray for the cardinals who will soon be electing a new pope, that the Holy Spirit may help them choose another excellent shepherd to guide the Church in this difficult time.