Leaders of all faiths mourn Francis
Cardinal Blase Cupich, who last saw Francis in November, told the Sun-Times the pope was always happy to see you.
“He sees so many people every day, but he gave you the impression he was so glad to see you. And he did that, I think, with everybody,” Cupich said. “The number of times that I met him, he always wanted to put people at ease, and he had a wonderful way of doing that, sometimes through humor. But also he was an individual who would be really very serious, but he never took himself seriously.”
Cupich will soon head to the Vatican and join the College of Cardinals tasked with selecting the next pope. He’s one of the 10 voting cardinals from the U.S.
“As I compare [Francis] with past popes,” Cupich says, “John Paul II told us what we should do. Benedict told us why we should do it, and Francis said, do it. So the three of them were in sync, but they took different approaches.”
The Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham, mourned Francis on social media.
“He challenged us to treat every person with dignity and respect, and that Justice and Love are the DNA of the Gospel. His voice of conscience will be terribly missed in these times as we are watching the very Soul of America being stripped away each day,” Pfleger wrote.
The pontiff’s Easter Sunday message, read aloud by an aide, called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages.
Ahmed Rehab, the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), said Francis put morals over divisions and politics in calling for a ceasefire and criticizing Israel’s military campaign.
“He was one of the few courageous, compassionate voices that spoke up at a time in which so many voices remain silent or cheered on the genocide,” Rehab said.
