As the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis, we would like to share some of the tributes to him from around the Society. The translations have been done with Deepl and may not be entirely accurate; links to the original texts are provided.
JPIC
https://rscj-jpic.org/updates/thank-you-pope-francis
In deep communion and profound sadness, we mourn the passing of our beloved Pope Francis. We will miss him dearly, but he leaves us an extraordinary legacy—especially in his commitment to justice, peace, and integrity of creation, which will continue to inspire our work for JPIC.
Thank you, Pope Francis!
ANZ
Women Religious Mourn the Passing of Pope Francis
Pope Francis, a profound leader for our time has left a great legacy. He modeled the message he urges the world to embrace. The Leadership Conference of Religious Women has paid tribute to a man who has made a monumental difference in our world.
“With the world, we offer our prayer of gratitude for Pope Francis, a man who fully embodied the life and message of Jesus Christ and gave of his all to bringing about the Reign of God on this earth.” – Sister Annmarie Sanders, IHM
CHI
https://www.rscj.cl/noticias/zapatos-gastados
Worn Shoes
Pope Francis asked to be buried in a pair of worn shoes. He did not choose new ones, nor did he choose formal ones. He asked for the ones he was wearing, the ones that had walked with him. And in that humble, simple gesture lies an entire pontificate, an entire life.
These are the shoes that walked through slums, refugee camps, hospitals, and prisons. They are the shoes that were stained with mud in Lampedusa, that stepped on the sacred ground of Ur in search of peace between religions, that walked silently through an empty St. Peter’s Square, praying for a wounded world.
[Francis’s shoes] are worn out from use, from dedication, from the rush to reach those who suffer. And there is no better shroud for a shepherd than the footprints of his journey.
Those shoes know the dust of the road and the burden of the heart. They are worn out from use, from dedication, from the rush to reach those who suffer. And there is no better shroud for a shepherd than the footprints of his journey.
Francis did not want a solemn farewell; he wanted one that spoke of the journey, of closeness, of the Gospel lived. Like Jesus, he left no monuments, only footsteps. And like Jesus, he wanted his tomb to be seen not as a symbol of power, but of love that wears away, that is spent, that is given.
Because in those worn shoes is the soul of a pontiff who always chose simplicity, who did not want thrones, but open doors. A Pope who did not spare himself the dust of the road, who lived the Gospel without adornment, and who now rests as he walked: with tired feet… and a full heart.
COL
Vistazo, the weekly newsletter from the Province of Colombia featured a section dedicated to the life of Francis
Celebrating the life of Francis
“My sisters! Unity in prayer and deep gratitude are what we hold in our hearts at this time of Easter. We have learned so much from our beloved Francis. Each one of us can ask ourselves: What has this Shepherd left in our hearts? May that pain be gratitude! Gratitude!” – Maruja rscj (COL)
“What great nostalgia there is in my heart…!” – Beatriz Elena rscj (COL)
“What a joy this personal encounter with the Pope was!” – Margarita rscj (COL)
“Our loving response to this gratuitous call of Christ is expressed by the public profession of the evangelical counsels, through the vows of obedience, poverty, chastity and a fourth vow, education of youth, in the Society of the Sacred Heart, in conformity with its Constitutions.” – Constitutions no. 42
“Pray in gratitude for Pope Francis…he lived his calling to the end. Now we can ask him for our world and our Church. Here is a memory of my encounter with Pope Francis.” – Barbara Dawson rscj on Facebook
“…On the morning of the 12th, with great anticipation, we left early for the Vatican, our hearts prepared to go meet Francis, the Pope of synodality and tenderness, of the poor and of small gestures and closeness. Pope Francis gave us three key words: discernment, formation, and charity; and we were able to greet him personally. We offered him some books by Dolores Aleixandre, Gera, and Mariola, and Cecilia’s songs as gifts. After this meeting, with emotion and gratitude in our hearts, we continued our work of revisiting issues such as governance and continued to listen to one another in the richness and diversity of our cultures and gifts.” – Nancy Durand rscj and Mariola López Villanueva rscj, General Chapter 2024 website
ESP
We join in mourning the passing of Pope Francis
On behalf of the Province of Spain of the Religious of the Sacred Heart, we wish to join in mourning the passing of Pope Francis and express our deep gratitude for his life of dedication and for his legacy to the Church and to the world. Pope Francis embodied God’s mercy in his tenderness and respect for every person regardless of their circumstances, in his tireless work for peace and dialogue among peoples, in his evangelical love for the least and the discarded, in his concern for the challenges posed by young people, in his desire for the recognition of women, in his concern for the care of creation…
Thank you, dear Pope Francis, brother of all and pilgrim of hope even in sickness. Thank you for your last encyclical on the Heart of Jesus, in which you invite us to “live the joy of trying to communicate Christ’s love to others” (DN, 216). In the joy of his definitive Easter, we also celebrate yours, and we will not forget to pray for you. – Núria O’Callaghan and the Provincial Council
USC
https://rscj.org/news/we-mourn-pope-francis-and-pray-that-his-soul-rests-in-peace
We mourn Pope Francis and pray that his soul rests in peace
Be humble,
Be simple,
Bring joy to others.
– Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat
Dear Family of the Sacred Heart,
Our hearts are filled with sorrow as we mourn Pope Francis. Surely, he brought to life the above words of Saint Madeleine Sophie. Francis lived from the conviction that hope is born of love that finds its roots in the pierced heart of Christ. He reminded us daily that such hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love. Through word and deed, Pope Francis showed all that to live in the Risen Christ is to see the world with new eyes and to live this life from a profound center of love.
Let us never forget Pope Francis’ call to us to be Pilgrims of Hope lighting a way forward by communicating the joy of the Gospel. Let us honor his memory by showing in thought and deed reverence for the human dignity of each person and for our common home. Let us embrace with renewed conviction Francis’ call to compassion, humility, peace, justice, and mercy. May we continue to embrace his understanding of servant leadership.
As we pray in thanksgiving for Pope Francis’ life and for the repose of his soul, let us also pray for all who grieve his loss, especially the young people in whom he also saw such hope. May we take up Francis’ Christ-like spirit and voice of compassion, peace and hope.
May his soul rest in peace and rise in glory,
The Society of the Sacred Heart, United States – Canada Provincial Team
Suzanne Cooke, RSCJ, Provincial
Maureen Glavin, RSCJ
Paula Gruner, RSCJ
Mary Kay Hunyady, RSCJ
Lynne Lieux, RSCJ
Social media
ARU
Pope Francis has passed away. We give thanks for his life.
BFN
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive, it is in forgetting ourselves that we find ourselves, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” – St. Francis of Assisi
Thank you, Pope Francis! Let us remember his words of hope spoken during the Jubilee. May they continue to inspire our journey. Let us pray for discernment for the Conclave.
MEX
How we will miss you! Your simple, profound, powerful words, testimony of your love for Jesus and for the poor. Your courage to repeat them always, among the simplest and also before the most powerful. Your constant witness of closeness and humanity.
We promise to care for our earth, which you taught us to call our “common home.”
Today, on your Easter, we pray for you and for your Church.
PHI
Jesus calls us to a personal encounter with Him – an encounter that touches our woundedness and sends us out in love. (First part, Constitutions no. 18)
Like Mary, and like the Pope whose life reflects this courage, may we go forth and say with our lives: “I have seen the Lord,”
POL
THANK YOU! Just…rest in eternal peace, hugged by the Heart that loved so much…
https://www.instagram.com/siostry.sacre.coeur
RSCJ International
“Let us turn, then, to the heart of Christ, that core of his being, which is a blazing furnace of divine and human love and the most sublime fulfilment to which humanity can aspire. There, in that heart, we truly come at last to know ourselves and we learn how to love.” – Dilexit nos
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