How to Remember Pope Francis by Patrick Gilger: “I’ve been asking others what they remember about Pope Francis—not what they think will happen in the long wake that will follow the end of his long papacy, but what their hearts will remember. This is because, for those of us who take the Incarnation of Christ to be a historical event and therefore do not take ourselves to be the prime movers of history, before we can step back and analyze what will come next and why, we need to root ourselves in something deeper. We have to try our best to notice how the prime mover is still moving. And this means remembering.”

Catholic Charities USA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson: “Throughout his historic papacy, Pope Francis inspired Catholics and all people of good will to live as Christ did. A modern-day prophet, Pope Francis read the signs of the times and awakened us to meaningful change in our behavior — within the Church and within the world. Complex challenges such as extreme poverty, homelessness, mental illness, forced migration, climate change and war did not intimidate him; they broke his heart and inspired him to call for a more merciful, charitable, just and other-centered world. More than any public figure of his time, Pope Francis emulated what he advocated. His authenticity came from his radical belief in God and commitment to be Christlike. He said what he meant, and his actions matched his words with uncommon consistency. Pope Francis exuded empathy.”

Pope Francis believed our capacity for mercy will end death penalty by Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy: “Pope Francis called on Americans to embrace our highest ideals and to pursue the common good. Yet no line touched me as powerfully as when he made a specific call to end the death penalty in the United States.”

Cardinal Robert McElroy: Today the Church and the world have lost a true shepherd of souls, a beacon of unwavering hope, and a voice of penetrating truth. From the very first moments of his service to the universal Church, Pope Francis enshrined the mercy of God at the heart of his proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In doing so, he illuminated with new depth the pastoral dimension of the Church’s mission, which is rooted first in embracing love rather than in judgment. It is this embracing love which led Pope Francis to be a prophetic advocate for the poor and the dispossessed, the unborn and the immigrant, the victims of war and the earth which is our common home. It was this love also that animated his tender personal care for all those whom he encountered personally in their suffering — those who saw their life marked by failure, the sick, those suffering from addictions, the incarcerated, those who had lost their way in life. It was in these intimate moments of pastoral care that we saw with such poignancy the heart of the pastor who had embodied mercy and love to the suffering in Buenos Aires and refused to diminish that commitment even when the strictures of the papacy fell upon him.”

Why it’s hard to imagine another pope like Francis by EJ Dionne: “Francis shunned regal trappings, including the papal apartments. His habits favored simplicity. He was known to treat Vatican staff more as co-workers than employees. His goal, he said, was “a poor church for the poor” — one that is “bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets.” “If you understand that preaching a God of mercy is central to his ministry,” said Catholic writer Michael Sean Winters, “everything else falls into place.””

Pope Francis’ magisterial teachings, like his reverence for the gift of creation, will live on by MSW: “Today, as we still wipe away the tears, Pope Francis’ powerful gestures of humility and solidarity are predominant, as they should be. But as those memories recede, his magisterial teachings, with their emphasis on pastoral theology, will continue to inspire Catholics and non-Catholics alike.”

Criticisms hurled at Francis revealed something that resists call of the Gospel by MSW: “Francis was allergic to the idols of ideology, nation, money and Kantian certainty. He earned the criticisms he received. They will persist into the next pontificate because they are eternal temptations and, sadly, there will always be those who fail to grasp the unique liberation that comes from communion with the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.”

A Good Man in a Strongman’s World by Jeffery Tyler Syck: “Whether one is a believer or not, it is impossible not to be moved by the generosity of spirit he constantly showed to the poor and downtrodden. His kindly interactions with migrants, the homeless, the poor, and other outsiders gave the world a shining example of true generosity. In so doing, Pope Francis brought faith to a cynical and disbelieving world. In an age of strongmen he was something far greater and far rarer—a good man.”

The Pluralism Pope: A Light for Our Dark Divisions by Eboo Patel: “The pope made pluralism a key category of work for the Catholic Church. He called it the “culture of encounter” — “a culture of friendship, a culture in which we find brothers and sisters, in which we can also speak with those who think differently, as well as those who hold other beliefs, who do not have the same faith. They all have something in common with us: They are images of God, they are children of God.” Here, too, this short statement is manifest brilliance. Difference of all kinds — of thought, of belief — is made sacred through a cosmic commonality — namely, that we are the children of God and thereby the bearers of God’s image.”

The church of the lowly: Pope Francis and his vision of the people of God by Anna Rowlands: “The church invoked so often by Francis has come here to Rome — the ordinary people who didn’t shout much on social media, who may or may not have sat regularly in the pews of their churches, from every walk of life and every corner of the earth; those who felt a quiet, deep affection for him and a profound affinity with his vision of a merciful church, close to the poorest, the discarded and vulnerable, and the broken hearted.”

What Comes Next by Stephen Okey: “Last of all, I take from Francis a continued focus on encounter with Christ, an encounter mediated through sacraments and the Church but also through the other, wherever one might find them. A central part of my own Catholicism has always been that I’m a convert, and that my conversion was, for lack of a better word, disruptive in my life. I think for a time the event of my conversion distracted me from the ongoing process of conversion that I was, and am, called to for the rest of this life. Francis’ open recognition of his own sinfulness, of his ongoing conversion to being a better shepherd, helped me to see this question more fully in my own life. I’m still working on it, but isn’t that kind of the point?”

Pope Francis leaves legacy as environmental conscience for the world by Brian Roewe: “With Laudato Si’, Francis sought to spur a stronger global response on environmental issues, including climate change. For the past decade, his words have permeated international environmental diplomacy and animated large swaths of the Catholic Church toward deeper reflection and greater action on areas of climate, biodiversity, pollution, Indigenous rights and more.”

‘He made Catholicism cool again.’ by Deborah Netburn: “Unconditional, loving-kindness, and compassionate acceptance. He knew that the only way to erase the margins was to stand out at them. He stood with those whose dignity had been denied and those whose burdens were more than they could bear. He stood with the demonized so that the demonizing would stop and with the disposable, so that the day would come when we stop throwing people away. One of his last acts as pope was to visit a jail and stand with the easily despised and the readily left out. His entire life invited us to “the original program.”

— Father Gregory Boyle, S.J., Founder, Homeboy Industries…

Pope Francis deeply mirrored the love of Jesus Christ especially among our most vulnerable in society. His care and humility for all people and creation drew people from all cultures and faiths. He moved in this world in an ecumenical way that went beyond his beloved church. He was truly an extraordinary leader and a role model to the world that embodied a deep faith and commitment to embrace the dignity of the human person.

— Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, director of Caring for the Whole Person, Archdiocese of Los Angeles…

I suspect that Pope Francis was never as concerned with reforming the church as he was simply trying to reveal something of the fullness and power of the church’s most basic teachings — that God is love, that we come to know God more fully in our own loving more completely, and that our highest calling and greatest joy might just be living as if that were true.

— Father Brendan P. Busse, S.J., pastor, Dolores Mission Church”