Pope Francis has died. The news of the death of Pope Francis comes to us on the day after Holy Easter: he enters the immense brightness of Easter joy in Heaven. We mourn him, we pray for him, with hearts full of gratitude for his extraordinary service to the Church and to all humanity, in full fidelity to the Gospel in every gesture. He was a tireless witness of the Gospel beyond every custom, every consolidated practice, every ceremonial.
We will miss his constant reference to reality, to the life of people, to life as a whole from birth to death, with particular attention to the least, the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the migrants, the forgotten. But above all, Pope Francis was the prophet of a possible new world, a world of true brotherhood among peoples and of protection of Creation, the only concrete and true answers to wars, oppression, divisions, the destruction and manipulation of our planet. It is up to us to collect and bear witness to his legacy to go beyond the pain and confusion, in the certainty that God has welcomed him into his grateful embrace of eternity.
Vincenzo Defilippis
FEAMC’ President
