¡Esta es la juventud del Papa!

Over the past 36 hours or so since the Vatican announced the death of the Holy Father, my social media feeds have been filled with images and tributes to the late Pope Francis.

In some he is whizzing past in his Pope Mobile to the chant of “Papa Francesco!”, in others he is greeting friends who have traveled to St Peter’s Square; as children, as students, as newly married couples, as families with bewildered and squealing children lifted up to the Holy Father.

In one video from a friend studying abroad in Rome a few years ago, a glimpse of the Holy Father sitting quietly in his wheelchair, surprising a group of young people as he joined them for a Holy Hour in the Vatican.

My own memories of Pope Francis are those of deep joy and of hope, fitting for this Jubilee year with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope”.

Like many, I braved the chaos and crowds and slept under the stars at World Youth Days (JMJ) in Kraków in 2016 and in Lisbon in 2023, joining millions of young Catholics who had travelled from across the world to gather with the Holy Father. 

Stood in the disused Polish quarry (fondly nicknamed “the field of (no) mercy”), I remember feeling particularly convicted by his call to “get off the sofa” and “not be a couch potato”. (Forgive me for the paraphrasing, fellow pilgrims will tell you we had walked all day in the heat and were nearing delirium at this point.)

And then more recently, interning at the representation of the Holy See in New York, I grew familiar with the teachings and writings of Pope Francis; one who worked and prayed unceasingly for peace in conflict zones across the world - especially those neglected by the mainstream media, one who valued interfaith and ecumenical dialogue deeply, and one whose weekly catechesis and prayers spoke into the suffering and injustice faced by brothers and sisters across the world.

(There was also the time we booked a family holiday to Malta without realising it coincided with a papal visit, perhaps a story for another time.)

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, and in returning to the Lord on this day, seems to point us, perhaps with his characteristic smile and a thumbs up gesture, to the Resurrection of the Lord which we rejoiced in on Easter Saturday night.

Francis’ papacy was filled with many wonderful gifts; encyclicals, papal visits, beatifications and canonisations (that of Carlo Acutis, a London-born “gen-Z”, was scheduled for Sunday).

Above all, it was filled with love: his love for the people and for his Church, and his love for the Lord whom he continually pointed us towards through his ministry. And as the Catholic funeral rites will remind us on Saturday, the love which binds us together in life cannot be undone by death.

This video montage from World Youth Day in Krakow 2016 brings tears to my eyes every time I come across it. It captures the infectious joy and vibrancy which characterised Pope Francis' papacy. 

May Pope Francis rest in peace and rise in Easter glory.