Local leaders reflect on Pope Francis as Pax Christi plans memorial Mass

Eden Prairie’s Pax Christi Catholic Community will celebrate a memorial Mass for Pope Francis on Thursday, April 24, at 6 p.m. The pontiff died Monday, April 21, at age 88.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, Francis was elected to the papacy, the office of the Bishop of Rome, in 2013. He was the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit, a common name for the Society of Jesus, an order of priests within the Roman Catholic church. He chose “Francis” as his papal name after St. Francis of Assisi, a medieval Italian Catholic saint.

Pax Christi’s parochial vicar, the Rev. Robert Wotypka, said, “Pope Francis gave me a lot of hope. I still remember, in my being, (the) joy that I experienced when he was elevated, and I am still astonished at his first public acts.”

Specifically, Wotypka said, he was thinking of Francis’s first pastoral visit outside Rome, when he visited the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa and prayed for migrants who traveled through the area to seek refuge in Europe. 

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The Rev. Trish Vanni, pastoral director of Eden Prairie’s Charis Ecumenical Catholic Community and a faculty member in the theology department of St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul, said, “Pope Francis had an impact far beyond the Roman Catholic community, and I think Christians of all types, as well as people of goodwill from other faith traditions, deeply appreciated the way he spoke for particularly the marginalized of the world.”

In addition to an ongoing concern for migrants, Francis expressed concern for the environment, called nuclear weapons immoral, and approved blessings that do not resemble marriages for same-sex couples.

“I like to think that John XXIII called for the church to open the windows,” Wotypka said, referring to the man who served as pope from 1958-1963. Pope John XXIII began the 1960s effort known as Vatican II with the goal of updating the Roman Catholic church.

Wotypka continued, “I’ve been thinking about Pope Francis. I think he called the church to open its heart.”

Pax Christi will pray for conclave selecting next pope

Wotypka also said that, by expanding the global origins of the people he named as cardinals, Pope Francis “has brought voices to the table from parts of the world that previously were not there.”

The pope can name priests within the Roman Catholic Church who have already reached the rank of bishop or archbishop to the office of cardinal. These priests then serve as advisors to the pope. As a group, they’re known as the College of Cardinals. Eligible members vote in the conclave that will select the new pope. 

Pax Christi will celebrate a Mass at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 7, to pray for the conclave selecting Pope Francis’ successor.

Due to the Roman Catholic Church’s rules for who can become a priest, a prerequisite for being named a bishop or cardinal, the College of Cardinals is comprised entirely of unmarried men. At a 2024 meeting among bishops, Pope Francis allowed women and laymen to vote alongside the ordained. During his papacy, he also upheld the rule forbidding married men to be ordained as Roman Catholic priests.

It was contrasts like this, Vanni said, that meant some U.S. Catholics would have liked to see Francis go farther in what she called progressive areas. “But overwhelmingly, I think there’s a deep appreciation for the small ways in which, while he wasn’t willing to change doctrine, he was willing to push back,” Vanni said. 

Charis shared Pope Francis’s final homily, a message delivered by a religious leader to the people of a church, with its members. “We grieve with our Roman Catholic siblings in the loss of this very, very important voice,” Vanni said.

Francis delivered his final homily, with the aid of an assistant, on April 20. The date was Easter Sunday, the most important day in the Christian church calendar because it commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  

In his message, Francis called for peace in areas of conflict around the world, including Gaza and Ukraine, and included the following words:

 “On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!” – Pope Francis, April 20, 2025

Speaking of Pope Francis, Pax Christi’s Wotypka said, “I think he exemplified what it is to be heart-centered and other-directed so beautifully.”

Pax Christi Catholic Community will hold the memorial Mass for Pope Francis at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 24, and a Mass of prayer for the conclave of cardinals at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 7. Pax Christi is located at 12100 Pioneer Trail in Eden Prairie.