Pope Francis’ surprise death turns St. Peter’s Square into bastion of prayer — and tour groups

VATICAN CITY – St. Peter’s Square looked almost normal Monday. Little tour group flags floated through the air like bouncing balloons. People took selfies with majestic St. Peter’s as a backdrop. Lots of Yankees ball caps littered the crowd. 

I sliced through the mob and soon, I saw normality give way to history.

A young, tall priest with a goatee prayed Hail Marys in English over and over again while frantically fingering his prayer beads. Two priests nearby stared at the ground in near silence. I caught them mumbling a few things to each other as if they had to vent to someone who understood.

Every priest in black stood behind a long barricade, quietly praying and staring at St. Peter’s hoping the dead would rise again. The stairs leading to the center of Cristendom were decorated with a gigantic, elaborate floral arrangement left over from Sunday’s Easter celebration of, yes, the Resurrection.

The irony wasn’t lost on me. At 10:30 a.m., a friend here in Italy texted me of Pope Francis’ death at 88. He dies one day after the Bible’s resurrection of Jesus and one day after meeting U.S. vice-president J.D. Vance. Fill in your own one-liner.

I was caught off guard, shocked, in fact. He was near death in February when he went to Gemelli hospital for 38 days for respiratory problems which turned into double pneumonia. His rebound put his health on the back pages here lately. Dying in his sleep made me catch a train to nearby St. Peter’s Station and record the fallout.

An American priest’s reaction

I approached two priests standing solemnly by the barricade. They, like the long string of tourists and locals, were staring at the stage in front of the basilica waiting for any announcement of what would happen next.

Father Brendan Hurley hails from Collingswood, N.J., and is a member of the Jesuits’ Society of Jesus. I asked him what Pope Francis’ legacy will be.

“Certainly his call for peace and particularly, as successor to Peter, and unity around the world, particularly with Christians and the concern for the poor, and a desire to be faithful to the church of service to those with needs: homeless, migrants,” he said.

A Polish journalist heard my interview and asked me my thoughts. First, he asked if I was Catholic. 

“No. I was raised Presbyterian,” I said.

“Well, you’re close.”

“Actually, I’m an atheist.”

It didn’t startle him. He asked what I thought of Francis since I moved to Rome in January 2014, 10 months after Francis’ inauguration. For 11 years I have lived 2 ½ miles from the pope. 

I told him he’s my favorite pope. He’s the most liberal pope in my lifetime as he finally made the church more open to gays and transgenders, the environment and immigration. 

He even forgave women who had abortions. He was called the “woke pope,” and not always affectionately. 

I said I lived in Rome from 2001-03 when pope John Paul II became arguably the most popular pope in history by the way he traveled more than all the other popes combined. But I also remember him traveling to East Africa, while it was ravaged by AIDS, and urged people not to use condoms, that it could make the problem worse.

Francis, an Argentine and avid soccer fan, brought the Catholic Church into the modern world. It was badly needed. Catholics are among the most open-minded people I’ve ever met. I’ve never had one tell me how to live my life. They all have their faith in perspective. 

But traditional Catholic doctrine made the church seem locked in the Dark Ages of dungeons and beheadings.

Then Francis came along and said things like, “Even atheists can go to heaven.”

I asked Father Hurley how much of the criticism toward Francis’ liberal leanings will tarnish his legacy.

“Every Holy Father sort of stands in the middle of people for a call of unification, for unity. So that’s been the case of the past,” he said. “It’ll be the case for Pope Francis and it’ll certainly be true of every successor of Peter as a voice to bring people together which often means different voices. But a desire to have a conversation.”

He said he saw Pope Francis only the day before when he greeted thousands of pilgrims who came for Easter but were also some of the 35 million expected this year for Rome’s Jubilee. I asked what his emotions were after seeing him alive such a short time ago.

“It’s certainly a shock,” he said. “We were particularly concerned and ready for anything during his stay in Gemelli  and coming back here he was certainly weaker. But certainly this morning I don’t think anyone expected this.  It’s still a bit of a shock.”

Francis’ legacy

The church’s first Latin American pope was elected on the platform of reforming the Vatican bureaucracy and finances. In the last 20 years it has been racked with sexual abuse scandals and Pope Benedict XVI, his predecessor, became the first pope in 600 years to resign.

Instead, Pope Francis went beyond that. He stressed humility, speaking out against capitalism and intolerance. He enlarged the role of women in the church, allowing them to serve as lectors and acolytes in parishes. He allowed them to vote in Vatican meetings.

He shocked the world when he said of a gay priest, “Who am I to judge?”

His biggest misstep came in 2018 when a sexual abuse scandal erupted in Chile and he discredited the abuse victims. He stood by the bishop linked to the abuser. Later, Pope Francis reversed course. He invited all the victims to meet him at St. Peter’s and forced the Chilean church priesthood to resign en masse.

In 2021, he made the first changes in the Vatican criminal code in 40 years. The Catholic Church is an institution that in the last 70 years has had a reported 330,000 reports of sexual abuse. Under Francis’ new law, sexual abuse, grooming minors for sex, possessing child pornography and covering up abuse became a criminal offense. 

It made the language more specific and dismissal easier. It took more power away from local churches and into the hands of the Vatican.

The pope said he wanted to “reduce the number of cases in which the … penalty was left to the discretion of authorities.” 

The theologian student

I met a theologian student from Merida, Venezuela, named Ricardo Velma. Talking to a priest, he had been in the Pope’s company numerous times and his message always hit home.

“The only words I can say at this moment is we lost a good father,” he said. “We lost a good man. We lost a man who wants the voice of the little people. Yesterday was the last time he was here from the Vatican. He blessed people and he spoke about the peace in the world – in the name of the little people around the world.

“Pope Francis was the pope of peace and the pope of mercy.”

Like others, Velma was waiting to see if anything happened in St. Peter’s Square later Monday. A mass was scheduled at San Giovanni in Laterano Monday night. A funeral, the date of which had not been announced, would follow several days of public viewing.

Who’s next?

None of the Vatican religious force had any clue who has the inside track on the next pope. One told me, “Every time I see an early list, the next pope never comes off it.”

So for what it’s worth, here are nine candidates Reuters listed:

Jean-Marc Aveline, archbishop of Marseille, France, 66. Algerian-born son to Spanish parents, he’s politically similar to Francis on immigration and especially relations with Muslims. He has a doctorate in theology and a degree in philosophy.

Cardinal Peter Erdo, Hungary, 72. He was a candidate in 2013 when they elected Francis and is considered a compromise: conservative but who connected with Francis’ progressive agenda. He appeared to align with Hungary prime minister Viktor Orban in 2015 when he called taking in migrants akin to “human trafficking.”

Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, Malta, 68. He’s a Vatican heavyweight from the smallest country in the European Union. He has been in lockstop for years with Francis who has often complimented Grech on his speeches and stances.

Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, Spain, 79. Open minded and friendly, Omella believes in an all-inclusive church. He has a history of promoting social justice. Succeeding Francis, Omella would hit the ground running.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican diplomat, Italy, 70. Francis’ secretary of State, Parolin is a Vatican lifer. He was Benedict’s deputy foreign minister. Soft spoken and not controversial, he would be the first Italian pope in 47 years, not since John Paul I’s mysterious one-month reign in 1978.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Philippines, 67. Called the “Asian Francis” for his similar ideology. In 2019, Francis moved him from Manila and put him in charge of the church’s huge missionary arm. He would be the church’s first Asian pope. 

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark, N.J., United States, 72. The leading candidate from an unlikely source – the U.S. – the Detroit native has held top positions all over the church and has cracked down hard on sexual abuse. He is an avid weightlifter.

Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Vatican official, Ghana, 76. He comes from a small village. His father worked in the mines and was a carpenter while his mother sold vegetables in a local market. He climbed fast through the church and in 2003 became the first cardinal from Ghana.

Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, Italy, 69. He specializes in treating the poor and immigrants, often seen riding his bike to the church instead of driving. He became leader of the Italian Catholic Church in 2022 which has been accused of reacting slow to investigate sexual abuse.