Pope Francis rose to the papacy 18 days before Easter, in 2013. He passed from this life one day after Easter twelve years later.
The “shot seen around the world,” as Rhode Island Catholic Executive Editor Rick Snizek wrote about that momentous period in history, involved a young boy from the Diocese of Providence and marked the start of Pope Francis’ papacy on Easter Sunday.
White smoke brought the Gondreau family scrambling from their current residence in Rome — where patriarch Paul Gondreau, S.Th.D., a professor of theology at Providence College who was teaching a semester abroad for PC students — to St. Peter’s Square the night of the pope’s election, but providence brought mother and son to the outside edge of the plaza, right along the route the new pontiff’s popemobile would take along his second pass through, and led to an iconic photograph that quickly went viral around the world.
“[Watching the pope’s final illness,] my thoughts quickly return to the historic days of 2013, when my family and I were in Rome to witness Pope Benedict XVI’s resigning from the Petrine office and the ensuing election of the Argentinian cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit pope,” Gondreau said in a reflection on Francis’ passing on Easter Monday.
“Pope Francis will always enjoy a close personal connection with my family, not merely because we were present in St. Peter’s Square to hear the famous ‘habemus papam’ on the rainy night of his election, March 13, 2013, but because two-and-a-half weeks later, on Easter Sunday, March 31, during his tour of the square after Mass, Pope Francis picked up and embraced my eight-year old son, Dominic, who has severe cerebral palsy.”
When the images of that iconic moment went viral — the family received excited messages from friends back in the U.S. almost instantaneously — those pictures helped define and set the tone for a pontificate still in its inaugural days. During the Easter week that followed, he and his wife Christina did countless interviews (including Fox News and CNN), as the world was eager to ponder what this encounter told them about the new pope.
The original Rhode Island Catholic story, reprinted in publications across the globe, can be read here.
Taking a Pastoral Approach
Since the early days of his papacy, Francis has been known for his pastoral approach to those he shepherded. Famous for his quote about “smelling like the sheep,” he continued to embrace the poor, the sick, the stranger, the oppressed and those, like Dominic Gondreau, with disabilities.
His pontificate was marked by his words and actions on hot-button issues, and he challenged Catholics and others to take greater roles in healing society’s greatest woes. His first apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium,” released in 2013, took aim at the missionary nature of the Church, with an emphasis toward her leaders — priests and bishops.
“In May of 2015, I had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis when he visited the North American College in Rome, where I was studying as a seminarian,” Father Nathan J. Ricci, J.C.L., vice chancellor of the Diocese of Providence, director of the Office of Divine Worship and administrative assistant to the bishop.
As a seminarian his house job that year was to serve as college’s master of ceremonies, which entailed that he would organize and serve the seminary’s major liturgies.
“Initially, I presumed the Holy Father would arrive with his own entourage of papal masters of ceremonies. But our rector, now-Bishop James Checchio, informed me that I would need to serve as the Pope’s ‘MC.’ He wouldn’t bring his own team,” Father Ricci recalled.
“That proved a daunting, but deeply humbling opportunity. I distinctly remember encountering the Holy Father before and after the celebration of Holy Mass. The Pope prayerfully and silently recollected before the liturgy commenced. After Mass, he lit up with joy alongside his characteristic humor as he greeted all of us who served alongside him. When he shook my hand, he said, ‘Tu hai fatto bene,’ meaning, ‘you did a good job.’ Somewhat awestruck, I responded awkwardly, ‘Grazie, Santità. Buon pranzo!’ meaning, ‘Thank you, Your Holiness. Have a good lunch!’ The Pope smiled, put his thumb up in the air, and wished me a good lunch, too. I will never forget the kindness he showed each of us, and the humility and reverence with which he celebrated Holy Mass. During his pontificate, Pope Francis reminded us about the indefatigable mercy of Almighty God. He challenged us priests and seminarians to focus on Christ before ourselves; and he consistently reminded us to seek out in the poor and marginalized the face of Christ.”
Pope Francis made numerous international pastoral visits throughout his papacy, some of which were the first nations to be visited by a pope, others had not seen the pontiff for decades. He canonized more than 900 men, women and children, including Popes John XXIII and John Paul II and the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Louis and Zelie Martin. Over the last few years, however, Pope Francis began slowing down as his health declined. Rumors flew as early as 2021 that he might pass away or resign, as his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI did.
But even when in a wheelchair as the years progressed, Pope Francis always enjoyed greeting the faithful in person whenever the opportunity presented itself, especially during his weekly papal audiences.
On November 20, 2024, Father Peter J. Gower, a retired priest of the Diocese of Providence, was in Rome celebrating his 40th anniversary of priesthood, being ordained on November 24, 1984.
He told Rhode Island Catholic that a good friend, Cardinal Francesco Monterisi, afforded him the opportunity to have an audience with Pope Francis. And he also attended the audience with Msgr. David Lipuma from the Diocese of Buffalo.
“It was an experience of a lifetime as I expressed to the Holy Father that I was celebrating my 40th anniversary,” Father Gower recalled.
“He joked with me, expressing that 40 years was nothing, and then he said, ‘look at me celebrating 55 years’ (Francis having been ordained in December 1969), and then proceeded to give me a gift. It was a beautiful red box with his papal insignia on it, and when I opened it, there was a beautiful rosary inside.”
In a picture he provided of that meeting with Pope Francis, he points to the Holy Father‘s smile as he was joking with him.
“Well aware that he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, he treated me as if I was the only person present. He exuded the joy of the Lord. It was a real spiritual moment, a time of great grace,” Father Gower said.
A Final Visit with His Beloved Flock
Even though the pope had recently suffered and recovered from pneumonia, he insisted on greeting the crowds on Easter Sunday, delivering his final “Urbi et Orbi” (translated as to the city and the world) blessing, speaking of the peace of the Risen Christ and imploring nations to aspire to that peace.
Diocesan Secretary for Catholic Charities and Social Ministry James Jahnz was in Rome with his family visiting his daughter who is studying abroad this semester. Jahnz and his family attended Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square and were present for Francis’ final visit to the Square.
“Being able to receive the Holy Father’s blessing during the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ will always be one of the most meaningfully beautiful experiences in the life of my family. I will always be grateful for Pope Francis’ example and his care for and his love for those who live at the margins. His blessing will forever remain in our hearts.”
On Easter Monday, as Christians around the world still celebrated the Resurrection, word spread of a sadness gripping the Catholic Church — Pope Francis had died at the age of 88 from a cerebral stroke that led to cardiac arrest.
Rome was in mourning as Jean Ernster and her husband were visiting the Eternal City for Easter, only to find their St. Peter’s Basilica Dome Tour canceled due to the pope’s death. At first, the couple were reluctant to join the thousands crowding through the St. Anne’s Gate into the basilica to view his body but felt that God placed them there at that time for that reason.
“We were stunned that this should happen during our visit,” said Ernster, the diocesan assistant coordinator of the Office of Life and Family.
“We toured St. Peter’s Basilica, prayed the rosary and attended noon Mass at the main altar in which Pope Francis was remembered and prayed for. It was very providential, as a Catholic, to be right there with that timing. … We felt that it was kind of a privilege to be there … to pay our respects.”
She said that the experience felt a bit confining, with so many faithful packed into the space available, but described it as “surreal.”
“It definitely felt like a honor to be there, to be able to say a prayer for the pope, a prayer for the repose of his soul, but also for the future of the Church, for our cardinals in selecting the next pope,” Ernster said. “We just kind of felt like a big family there, with all the Catholics congregating there in the plaza.”
