Catholics around the world mourn ‘humble’ Pope Francis

Reuters:

VATICAN CITY, April 21 – Members of the 1.4 billion-member global Catholic community expressed grief on Monday at the death of Pope Francis aged 88, many praising him as a humble man who stood up for the marginalised.

At the Vatican, tourists and pilgrims there for Holy Week were dazed at the pontiff’s demise the morning after he had driven in his open-topped pope mobile through crowds cheering “Viva il Papa!” on Christianity’s holiest day.

“He appeared in public yesterday, looked healthy. I was so shocked, and sad of course,” said Father Bachai, a retired priest from the United States.

In Francis’ homeland Argentina, where he once served as the city’s archbishop, people woke up to the news.

“It hurts me like crazy, it hurts me a lot because I agreed – more than anything – with his words in support of bisexuals, and homosexuals,” said one Buenos Aires resident Nicolas Cordoba, noting his welcoming of LGBT people.

Dozens of churchgoers gathered for a Mass in Buenos Aires cathedral.

“The truth is, I wasn’t surprised. He was clearly very ill. I think he made a great effort to make it to Easter, which is the great festival for Christians,” Jorgelina Ventura, a 53-year-old lawyer, told Reuters.

Some of the faithful remembered Francis’ compassion towards those caught in war zones.

“The pope really cared about our country, Congo, with the repeated wars we are going through,” said worshipper Faida Nabintu at a church in the rebel-held city of Bukavu in conflict-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo.

At the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, David Sieben, 25, who recently completed a nine-month pilgrimage from Germany, said he hoped Francis’ successor would persist with his push to foster understanding between Christianity’s different branches.

“I pray that the next pope can continue in the footsteps of our beloved Francis and carry on a unity between Orthodox and Catholic,” Sieben said.

Peter Ladweg, taking a break from a run in Berlin, said he would like the next pope to be younger.

“I think it would bring a breath of fresh air to this whole episcopate and papacy,” he said.